The Oswego State Lakers men’s basketball team faces one of their toughest stretches of the season with a four-game road trip to finish the regular season. They start things off this weekend with matchups against SUNY Fredonia on Friday and Buffalo State on Saturday.

The Lakers (17-4/13-1), currently hold first place in the SUNYAC with a two-game lead over the College at Brockport. Unless they fail to clinch home-court advantage the next three games, next Saturday’s rematch against the Golden Eagles could decide this year’s host.

“We got to prove we can consistently defend on the road, that’s going to be a big challenge for us,” head coach Jason Leone said. “We’re going to have to be very focused, have a good week of preparation and execute on both ends of the floor in order to get this thing done.”

It has been nearly two months since the Lakers last played Fredonia and Buffalo State in the same weekend. At Max Ziel Gymnasium they gutted out two close victories, which began their current 12-game SUNYAC win streak.

One of the perks of winning this many consecutive conference games for the Lakers is that they have been able to improve in areas Leone has highlighted this season.

“Some of our newer guys have grown accustomed to what we are doing systematically,” Leone said. “They’ve become more comfortable and more confident, in particular on the offensive end. Certainly in the last two months we’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth with our new guys, which has improved our depth and scoring balance.”

Freshman Brandan Gartland has turned into a reliable option of the bench as he averages 14.1 minutes a game.

“One of the reason’s I chose here was how successful they were last year, after the Sweet-16 game actually I committed to come here,” Gartland said. “Coach Leone’s a good coach and has a winning attitude so it’s been fun.”

Leone sees three simple keys for success in this final stretch, the first being to stay connected and poised as a group.

With playoff spots on the line, the Lakers will likely face some rowdy crowds and stiff competition. Each of the four teams left on the Lakers’ schedule have lost to them, putting the revenge factor into play along with their home-court advantage. The Lakers have only played four SUNYAC road games this season, so poise will be vital.

Second, Leone would like to see some areas of the defense improve. The Lakers have been spotty with their second half defense, letting some big leads slip away like they did against SUNY Cortland and the College at Brockport.

“Anytime you go on the road, you got to play good defense,” Leone said. “You can’t just rely on making shots because you can’t always control when shots go in, and when they don’t.”

The last point of focus is taking care of the ball. This will be another crucial need for the Lakers in order for them to find success. In their four SUNYAC road games, the Lakers have done a model job managing turnovers, averaging 11.8 per game in that stretch.

“We don’t want to hurt ourselves and give the other team easy shots because of our turnovers,” Leone said.

The Lakers know the value in clinching home court for the SUNYAC tournament, but really emphasize the importance of not setting their sights too far down the road.

“[The] main focus is the game on Friday against Fredonia, we got to take it step-by-step,” senior forward Keith Tyson said. “We got to take it one game at a time, if we start looking ahead we might falter.”

Last season the Lakers finished 11-7 in the SUNYAC. They captured the third seed and defeated the hosts SUNY Plattsburgh in the semifinals, only to come up short in the championship game to SUNY Cortland.

This season the Lakers have seemed to bring a sharper and more determined squad that carries winning experience with them, led by senior star point guard Brian Sortino.

Sortino has averaged 23.6 points in the last five games and is heating up at the right time. Help with shooting and scoring from Jamir Ferebee and Ian Schupp has opened up the opportunities for the Lakers to thrive.

The two other senior starters, Mykelle Krecko and Tyson, may not be scoring like they did in the beginning of the season, but have still been the anchors on the defense, with rebounding the ball and leading the team.

All their hard work has led them to this point, but keeping a stable mindset and finding ways to improve shall keep it going.

“We still have another level I think we can get to, it’s a back-handed compliment,” Leone said. “There’s still some improvement that needs to happen in the next couple weeks. Our guys, to their credit, have a lot of buy in. They expect more of themselves than probably the coaching staff does.”

Two wins and a Golden Eagles loss this weekend can clinch home-court advantage for the Lakers, but there are still plenty games left to prevent the Lakers from hosting, something they have not done since 2012.

“That’s what we’ve been planning since our freshman year,” Sortino said. “Me, Pat, Matt and Keith that’s what we’ve talked about. We want to win it in front of our fans. We want to give it back to Oswego, so that’s our ultimate goal.”