The Oswego State men’s basketball team has advanced to the semifinals of the SUNYAC playoffs after a win vs. SUNY Cortland which sets up a date with conference foe, The College at Brockport, on Friday.
Oswego State is 0-2 vs. The College at Brockport this season, but both games were decided by a small margin. In the first matchup on Dec. 6, the Golden Eagles snuck away with a 68-67 victory at home. In the second matchup on Feb. 22, the Lakers overcame a 14-point first half deficit, but the Golden Eagles secured the win in overtime, 85-80.
Despite the two losses, the Lakers showed they can hang with one of the nation’s best, but Oswego State head coach Jason Leone credits the Golden Eagles success this season to a balanced offense.
“They’re 22-3, 17-1 in the conference,” Leone said. “They really have a balanced scoring attack. They have a good combination of physicality around the basket combined with improved shooting on the perimeter.”
The College at Brockport’s success this season should not come as a surprise, as it consistently plays to its strengths which has led to wins all season. The Golden Eagles ended the season on a 15-game win streak.
“The thing they do best is they get to the foul line,” Leone said. “They are ranked top 10 in the country in both attempts from the foul line and makes. They are also a very opportunistic team off their defense. They create turnovers off their pressure and that allows them to get into the open floor and get a lot of conversion opportunities in transition.”
The College at Brockport is currently ranked second in the nation in free throw attempts and seventh in free throws made. Seventh in the nation in steals per game, sixth in total steals and ninth in turnovers forced are some notable defensive stats as well for the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles have a slew of very talented players.
“From a standpoint of personnel, they’ve got four or five guys that are worthy of all-league consideration,” Leone said.
One of those forwards is senior Justin Summers. Despite playing in only 16 games this season due to injury, Summers averaged 16.4 points per game and 6.4 rebounds in the regular season. He also led the team with 24 blocks.
“He is a guy that has been a 1,000-point scorer,” Leone said. “He was on the Bevo Francis Small College Player of the Year Award list before he got injured, pre-season All-American. He kind of does it all at his position. I think his most valuable attribute is the presence he provides around the basket with his shot blocking ability.”
Another player is sophomore Jahidi Wallace. Wallace averaged 14.4 points per game this season and averaged 25 points per game against the Lakers this season.
“Jahidi Wallace is definitely going to be voted one of the five best players in the league this year, so he will be first team All-League,” Leone said. “He is their four-man, he is undersized at 6-foot-2, but he has the quickness of a guard. He is a capable shooter from [the] 3-point line and is a good player in the post and the offensive glass.”
Heading into Friday’s matchup, the Lakers are confident due to their play this season. However, adjustments will have to be made for the Lakers to defeat one of the nation’s best teams and move onto the SUNYAC Championship game.
“We really just had two bad stretches, one in each game,” Leone said. We didn’t do a good job playing our zone, and they got up 12 points on us, then we battled back. It was very similar to the game here where we got down 14 at halftime. The games were eerily similar, so the adjustments we have to make are those two six-minute stretches, we got to clean that up.”
Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
