Coming off of a tough loss to SUNY Potsdam (18-5, 13-3 SUNYAC), the Oswego State men’s basketball team (16-6, 10-5 SUNYAC) has entered its last week of the regular season. The Lakers have three games this week, and the first is Tuesday at SUNY Oneonta (17-5, 13-2 SUNYAC).
The Lakers clinched a playoff berth last Friday and currently sit in fourth place of the SUNYAC. If the season ended today, the Lakers would host SUNY Cortland (15-7, 9-6 SUNYAC) in the first round of the SUNYAC playoffs. The three remaining games for the Lakers are of great importance, as they hope to secure home-court in the first round.
Last Time Out
Last time out, the two met at Max Ziel Gymnasium and SUNY Oneonta walked out with a 76-66 victory. The Lakers’ seven-game win streak was snapped in the loss, and it was only their third loss of the season. The story was the second half performance from the Red Dragons. The Lakers led 35-33 after the first half, but the Red Dragons shot 55% in the second half and outscored the Lakers 43-31 to secure the win. The Red Dragons had three players score 15 or more points in the win, led by Kevin Mackin’s 19 points. Harrison Deegan scored 18 points and Joseph Bull had 17 points of his own. For the Lakers, Jeremiah Sparks finished with 23 points and seven rebounds and Joe Sullivan finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Players to Watch
Oswego State: Joe Sullivan
Sullivan continues to play some of his best basketball at this point of the season. Despite the loss vs. SUNY Potsdam, Sullivan still finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. He has also scored 20-plus points in three of the last four games. Sullivan’s points per game average continues to climb, as he is now averaging 15 points per game to go with 9.1 rebounds. Last time out vs. the Red Dragons, Sullivan finished with a double-double. Expect Sullivan to continue to be aggressive and play well Tuesday night.
SUNY Oneonta: Kevin Mackin
Mackin currently leads the Red Dragons in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game. Mackin is recently coming off of his best scoring performance of the season where he scored 29 points against Buffalo State. Another impressive stat is that Mackin leads the team in minutes per game at 34.5 and only has 14 total turnovers on the season, a number that is very impressive for a guard. Mackin played well last time vs. the Lakers and has played well all season. Expect no different Tuesday night.
Prediction
Oswego State could really use a spark at this time of the season, especially against a good team in SUNY Oneonta. Lakers start and finish strong and win this one 78-74.
Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
