The Oswego State men’s basketball team is less than two weeks away from stepping on the court for the first time in 631 days. After a 2019-2020 season that showed lots of promise and strides of dominance, the Lakers look for similar results in 2021.
The Lakers had a very successful season in 2019-2020, they went 19-8 and went 12-6 in conference play. The Lakers do come into this season looking for revenge after a crushing 82-67 against The College at Brockport, and especially since they weren’t able to take the court last year.
The Lakers do bring back two of their top scorers from their previous campaign in Jeremiah Sparks and Julien Crittendon, along with other key contributors like forward Jamal Achille and Jordan Brown, who led the team in blocks with 15. This team will definitely be playing like there is a chip on their shoulder.
This team is also in very good hands when it comes to coaching with head coach Jason Leone returning for his tenth season with the Lakers. In his nine seasons here at Oswego State, Leone is a very impressive 181-75 and looks to improve that impressive record and also take home a SUNYAC championship this year.
The men’s basketball team opens up their season at home as they will play in the 2021 Men’s Basketball Max Ziel Tournament, a four-team tournament in Max Zile gym where they will take on Elmira College, a team that went 1-10 in a shortened season last year due to COVID-19. Elmira College is a team that I believe the Lakers will be able to win against, even though they may have lost some of their stars from 2019-2020, they still have the skill and willpower to beat a team that had a very poor season just a year ago.
If the Lakers take down Elmira College on Nov. 12, they will face the winner of the SUNY Poly and Hobart College matchup. SUNY Poly went 16-10 two seasons ago, they had their season cancelled last year just like the Lakers. Hobart College also did not play last year, but they are a very strong team that went 23-5 two seasons ago. They made it into the Division three tournament and won their first two games until their season was abruptly ended due to the pandemic.
I believe that this Lakers team is in for a big season, especially after losing out on their previous season. This team did lose three of their top five leading scorers from that team but I believe guys like Sparks, Crittendon, and Achille will be able to step up and make a big impact on the offensive side of the ball. This team is full of size, so defensively they should be set up to lock their opponents down. In the second half of their 2019-2020 season, they played a much more defensive style of play and limited opponents like SUNY Fredonia and Plattsburgh State to just 44 points and SUNY Geneseo to just 42 points.
A game that the Lakers will certainly have circled on their calendars will be their Dec. 4 matchup against SUNY Brockport. The Lakers were not only eliminated by them in the SUNYAC semi-falls, they also were defeated by a score of 85-80 in overtime on senior night that same season, so one could only imagine how badly they wanted revenge. The Lakers will also play The College at Brockport on Feb. 18, which is the second-to-last game of the season and could have playoff implications, so expect that to be a huge matchup as well.
The tournament to start off the year should give the Lakers a real test, but is something that I do not think will bother them. They should be able to take care of business in the first game which would set them up in a heavyweight battle against the winner of SUNY Poly and Hobart College. There is a lot to like about this Oswego State men’s basketball team, they have a talented roster with a fantastic coach in Jason Leone, who will have his players ready for battle night-in and night-out.
Photos provided by Oswego State Athletics
