Oswego State Lakers men’s basketball clinched the 2016-2017 SUNYAC regular season title tonight with their 80-75 victory on the road over SUNY Geneseo.
The Lakers got some help clinching the No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC playoffs tonight, as SUNY Cortland pulled off an incredible 79-74 upset on the road over the College of Brockport. Putting the Golden Eagles two games back of Oswego in the standings.
Oswego State got impressive performances tonight from their seniors Brian Sortino and Keith Tyson. They both finished with 21 points, and combined to drain six three-pointers. Sortino also dished out five assists and Tyson grabbed nine rebounds.
It was a tight game for the most part, the Lakers led the Knights by a single point at halftime 35-34.
Four minutes into the second half the Lakers were leading 47-44, and then orchestrated a 14-2 run to bring them to their largest lead of 15 with over 10 minutes to go in the game.
The lead at 69-57 with five minutes to go, the Lakers began to falter a bit and let Geneseo back into the game stressfully.
Three-pointers from Geneseo’s John Decker and Kevin Crockett had the Knights within 76-73 with less than a minute remaining.
Tyler Pierre, coming off a season-best outing, came up clutch for the Lakers in the last few minutes with two offensive rebounds and five points to help hold off Geneseo’s comeback.
Jamir Ferebee’s free throws in the end sealed it for the Lakers winning 80-75.
SUNY Geneseo drops to 13-11 overall and 8-9 in the SUNYAC’s. Decker led the Knights in scoring tonight with 20 points, CJ Burke tallied 15 points.
The Lakers improved themselves to 19-5 overall, and 15-2 in SUNYAC’s. Tomorrow’s rematch against the College of Brockport may seem less important, but they still have plenty of factors to play for.
Next weekend’s SUNYAC playoffs will be their toughest weekend, and won’t be a guarantee. So tomorrow’s game against Brockport stays important as at-large bids in the NCAA tournament depend on each and every game.
Coach Jason Leone discussed last week what it would happen if they clinched the SUNYAC’s before the end of the regular season.
“I like to treat my team like adults, they follow Division III basketball as much as I do,” Leone said. “We put ourselves in a position where if we play well, we have different ways we can still qualify for the national tournament.”
The current seeding’s for the SUNYAC playoffs goes as follows:
- Oswego State
- College of Brockport
- SUNY Cortland
- SUNY Oneonta
- Buffalo State
- SUNY Geneseo
Tomorrow’s slate of games can still stir up the seeding’s from 2-6, as Plattsburgh and Fredonia still remain in contention.
Coach Leone shall remind his players to stay focus going into tomorrow, as it will be a tough test playing Brockport less than a day later.
“Incredibly difficult, but if you want to be good you have to perform in difficult situations,” Leone said earlier this week. “My hopes are our guys will enjoy that situation and want to be there, that’s the big thing.”
The SUNYAC regular season champions the Oswego State Lakers will look to defend their exciting night with a win over Brockport tomorrow. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. at the College of Brockport.
