Oswego State and SUNY Geneseo men’s basketball are set to square off for the third time this season in the SUNYAC Championship First Round.

Winner of this game will advance to the SUNYAC Championships Final, hosted by No. 1 Plattsburgh State and will play the Cardinals in the semifinal matchup.

HEAD TO HEAD

Lakers have won both games against Geneseo this season, but both easily could have gone in the other outcome. A hail mary pass across the full court with two seconds left ended up in the hands of senior Ian Schupp, who drained the mid-range jumper before the buzzer for a 72-70 victory on Jan. 26.

Just this past Saturday, the Lakers came out firing on Senior Day against SUNY Geneseo and stretched out to a 28-11 lead in the first half. Geneseo was able to settle in and cut their defecit down to single digits at the half.

Geneseo took their first lead with less than three minutes left in the game, but the Lakers finished the game strong, thanks to a Liam Sanborn 3-pointer and seniors Jamir Ferebee, Josh Ivey and Schupp converting their free throws.

Ivey was the story of the game, scoring a career-high 22 points on his special day. He was effective in the low-post, draining five jumpers and even one from beyond the arc.

TOP GUNS

Laker leading scoring Ferebee (15.9 ppg) was limited on Saturday, but was critical in the closing minutes. He did score 16 points in their first win against Geneseo and had a 22-point performance in a loss against The College at Brockport on Friday night.

Ferebee is a balanced scorer and opens up opportunities for other shooters on the floor such as Brandan Gartland, Schupp and Sanborn. As head coach Jason Leone would say, “we play as well as our seniors play.” Ferebee’s play will be a crucial factor in the outcome of tonight’s game.

Both teams are very balanced offensively. The Lakers feature six players who average 8 ppg or better and the Knights have four guys who average 10.5 ppg or better.

Tommy Eastman was the Knights leading scorer in both games this season and was a big factor in their comeback on Saturday at Max Ziel Gymnasium.

PREDICTION

Some would find it easy to say the Lakers will win this one given they are already 2-0 against Geneseo this season, but in the postseason none of that matters. Geneseo did play a lot of their reserves in their loss on Saturday, likely due in part the game had no implications on playoff seeding.

The Lakers have played well as of late through their once called ‘lackadaisical’, now considered ‘stout’ defense. Even when they roll with a four-guard set for the most part, they have kept opponents under 70 ppg this season.

It can also be easy to forget that Schupp and junior center Tyler Pierre were named to the All-SUNYAC Tournament team last season and know what it is like to play in games like this.

Lakers win and advance to the semifinals with a 67-64 victory on the road against Geneseo.