Coming off of a win vs. Plattsburgh State, the Oswego State men’s basketball team (16-6, 10-5 SUNYAC) clinched a playoff berth. Saturday, the Lakers suffered a tough loss to SUNY Potsdam (18-5, 13-3 SUNYAC) 76-62, who they trail in the standings.
Isaiah Brown was unstoppable for the SUNY Potsdam in the win, finishing the game with 42 points and 15 rebounds. He also shot 16-26 from the field and 6-12 from the 3-point line.
“He didn’t miss today,” Oswego State senior Brandan Gartland said. “He’s a really good player, and he made the most of his opportunities.”
Brown scored 24 of his points in the second half for the Bears and was a big part of their second half run that broke the game open. Brown is now averaging 24.2 points and nine rebounds per game. Over the last two games, he has averaged 37.5 points and 12.5 rebounds. No other Bears’ player scored double-figures in the win. The next highest scorer closest to Brown was Jayquan Thomas who finished with nine points.
For the Lakers, Gartland finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. Joe Sullivan finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Liam Sanborn finished with 10 points and four assists and Jeremiah Sparks finished with seven points, eight rebounds and four assists.
The game was tied at 33 heading into the half and remained close for about eight minutes in the fourth quarter. At the time, the score of the game was 46-45 SUNY Potsdam, and the Bears would go on an 30-17 run to end the game,
Turnovers were an issue for the Lakers, as they finished with 16 of them and with the turnovers, came a lot of transition opportunities for the Bears.
“I think we gave the ball away too much,” Sparks said. “We left the ball out in the open, and they just took it and ran with it. They are a really fast team, that is what they thrive on in transition so if we can’t stop them in transition, they are going to get a lot of easy points.”
The difference of the game was ultimately the great play in the first half compared to the poor play in the second half.
“One thing we did really well in the first half is I thought we were scoring,” Oswego State head coach Jason Leone said. “It is a little easier to play transition defense when you are putting the ball in the basket. Second half we went a little cold from the field, credit to their defense and that allowed them to get out in transition.”
Despite the loss, there are still several positives to take out of a game, win or lose. That is exactly what players on the Lakers did.
“I think if you look at the positives, we were in the game most of it,” Sparks said. “We hung in there, they got their run and we couldn’t get the ball in the basket. They are a beatable team; we can beat them.
Next up for the Lakers is a road game Tuesday night when they take on SUNY Oneonta. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.
“Looking forward, we have to put this game behind us and focus on Oneonta Tuesday,” Gartland said. “If we continue to win, we have three games left in the season so if we can win those, we can move up in the rankings. We are trying to get a home game also, so that is a big thing.”
Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
