By Ben Diamond

The Oswego State men’s basketball team is gearing up for the SUNYAC playoffs and they will not let one late loss to a division rival deter them. 

After a close 63-64 loss to the rival New Paltz Hawks, Laker head coach Jason Leone made sure his team was not focused on the past, only the future. It was important for Leone to make sure his team did not dwell on the loss, because they know they can play better, so all he wanted them to do was work on what went wrong to clean up the mistakes that led to the loss.

Leone gives New Paltz credit on how they played in the close win. The Lakers also had not played a closely contested game in a long time, so they did not have as much experience in close games as a team like New Paltz might have had. After the game, Leone had two important messages to give his team guidance on how they should proceed as a team.

“After a loss it was really easy to focus on maybe a missed shot or two in the last minute of the game, when in actuality, in the first half we had a number of blown assignments on defense,” Leone said. “My second message was that we turned the page and had a sense of amnesia and forgot about that loss when we played a big game Saturday versus Oneonta.” 

Oswego State did have a quick turnaround, beating Oneonta 63-53 the day after their loss to New paltz. The focus on practice and working to better themselves is Leone’s way of helping his team to continue to move forward, finish the season strong and go into the playoffs with a lot of confidence. 

“I think it is really important at this time of year to focus on playmaking,” Leone said. “We gotta go out and execute whatever that is in that particular game that we want to emphasize in order to beat teams. Nobody ever wins games at this time of the year playing tentatively, so we want to play the most aggressive style of basketball that we can play.”

Leone also said that a team’s confidence comes from their preparation, so he wants to make sure his team is well prepared to handle anything that comes their way. He also tries to make things simple for his team in order to keep pressure off their shoulders down the stretch.

For Leone, he and the team can learn a lot from both wins and losses. Through this, the team is able to grow together as one and create a winning atmosphere that builds on one another.

“It’s much tougher to have your team’s attention after wins obviously because the more you win, the more you feel good about yourself,” Leone said. “We have a lot more attention on the team now than we did in November and December when all this winning started. It puts them in a precarious position where they have to remain humble and remember kind of what got them there.”

Freshman Ahkee Anderson has had a successful first season under Leone. Anderson has started in 19 of the team’s 23 games as well as being fourth on the team in average minutes per game with 22.5. He, like many on the team, got very accustomed to winning and had not felt a loss in two months. But, even with the sudden hurdle, Anderson is still confident in the team’s ability to stay ready and continue charging forward.

“We just try to get refocused after [the game], we come together, we talk as a team about what we need to do to get better,” Anderson said. “We don’t take it to heart, we don’t let it knock us off our pivot, but it’s really important to stay together and not point fingers.”

Being a freshman starter on a successful team can be a lot for some players. Anderson has taken it in stride and learned how to handle himself as well as the expectations of the team. He also got a lot of important guidance from veteran players that has helped him become the player he needs to be, the one the team can rely on.

“Just learning to be consistent,” Anderson said. “It takes a lot of time, you gotta put a lot of time in the gym, make sure you’re getting up extra shots. Everything kinda starts with you being a point guard, on the defensive side it starts with you, and on the offensive side it starts with you. So just listening to everyone, and taking little things from each person, everyone has been a mentor to me.”

Anderson has been using the lessons to his advantage this season. He is averaging 8.1 points per game and is second on the team with 59 assists.

Junior Jamal Achille also has a lot of faith in his teammates. He knows that they will pick each other up when things get tough and that is what has helped them sustain the success they have had.

“Losses happen, it’s a part of the game,” Achille said. “But we were able to regroup and get ourselves together. We knew we needed the next game, so we got back to being focused and played how we always play.”

Although Achille is in his second year, like Anderson he has taken advantage of the advice and encouragement of his teammates. Achille agrees with Anderson that everyone on the team is there for each other. This bond has helped push him to another level this season. This season, Achille is averaging 7.1 points per game with 3.5 rebounds, 10 steals and nine blocks. He is also strong on the block, posting a 57.1% field goal percentage.

“Compared to my freshman year, this group is far more connected,” Achille said. “We are all selfless, we all want to see each other succeed. All egos go out the door.”

To end the season, the Lakers face SUNY Brockport on Friday, and SUNY Fredonia on Saturday. They look to close out the season on a high note before the real challenge begins.

Photos provided by Oswego State Lakers