By: Spencer Bates

The Oswego State’s men’s basketball team’s historic season has come to an end following a hard-fought loss in the Sweet 16 to Marietta College.

The Lakers battled a No. 2 ranked Marietta College team that had not lost in their last 25 games, a school record, in front of a sold out crowd at the Ban Johnson Arena on March 12.

Out of the four teams that made the trek to the little college town of Marietta, which rests on the border of Ohio and West Virginia, Oswego State had the second lowest national ranking at No. 17. However, an outsider would not guess that based on the faces and words of the team. Studying film and light-heartedly joking with one another in the wake of their biggest challenge of the season showed that this team knew their capabilities heading into the game.

Head coach Jason Leone, with a hint of giddiness in his voice admitted that the game was going to be a challenge and that they may even need a bit of luck to be on their side. But as someone who knows his team’s ability better than anyone, he emphasized that it will be up to his players to create their own fortune in the contest.

“Here we are, we’re ready to go,” Leone said. “Obviously it’s going to be a great challenge but this time of the year everything’s about … fortune, but it’s our job to create our fortune at this point and embrace the opportunity.”

Leone also laid out how he believed the Pioneers’ three-point shooting, ability to create chances and senior leadership were reasons their opponents had been so successful this season. Noting that his team will need to beat them on rebounds and take care of the basketball if they are going to upset their adversaries.

“Their three point shooting is an asset for them, there are certain things we need to do to try and get them off the line but we also have to be disciplined with our shot contesting because [of] their ability to draw fouls on three-point shots when people are over aggressive,” Leone said. “We’ve got to keep them off the boards and then offensively we’ve got to make sure that we handle their physicality. They really are an opportunistic defensive team.”

Another factor that both Leone and his players knew was going to play into the game was the crowd. The Ban Johnson Arena was packed to the brim as fans even filled standing areas around the court. The noise that boomed through the facility following every Pioneers play was nearly deafening, but going into the contest, sophomore guard Jeremiah Sparks had a simple answer for what he and his team will need to do in regards to the crowd.

“[The] crowd’s going to be a pretty big factor, it’s sold out,” Sparks said. “We just have to keep our head straight and play the way we play.”

Leone had a much more in-depth explanation as to how he thought the Marietta fanbase would play into the game. He understood that there will be times where they may take an emotional hit from the jeers of the crowd but said that with the mature group of players he has, he does not see it being that big of an issue.

“It’ll definitely be part of the game,” Leone said. “We just explained to our guys that there will probably be an initial flurry of emotion in the beginning of the game, we’ve got to be really poised. We’ll probably take a gut punch or two during the game where the crowd will get into it … But our guys are up to the challenge, we’ve got a very mature group here and they really want to win.”

As the Lakers and the Pioneers took the court, the Marietta faithful were loud as ever. Banging on banners and chanting almost to an endless degree. The Lakers’ freshman guard Ahkee Anderson got the contest’s scoring underway with a three pointer on the first possession of the game, but unlike many of Oswego State’s games this year they weren’t able to sustain the lead. Unfortunately, a late 14-4 first-half surge by the Pioneers saw them take their first substantial lead of the game. The half was then capped off by an unfathomable three pointer by star guard Lukas Isaly as the Pioneers took a 43-36 lead going into halftime.

Marietta shot 64% from the field and were winning in the rebound column after the first half. Anderson and Sparks were points leaders for Oswego State, combining for 17 after both playing the grand majority of the first 20 minutes.

The second half got underway in the same fashion as the first, with a Lakers three-pointer, this time courtesy of junior guard Devin Green. Oswego State came out of the gates with a vengeance, immediately going on a 17-4 point run to retake the lead and put them up by nine points with just over 13 minutes left to play.

Unfortunately, the Pioneers shook off the early onslaught and retook the lead, only letting the Lakers inch ahead once by a point with five minutes left which they wiped away with an 11-0 scoring run. Oswego State chased the game from then on out and despite their best efforts, recorded their third and final loss of the season.

As the Ban Johnson Arena shook with the sounds of ecstatic fans, the heads of the Lakers and the group of traveling fans dropped. Oswego State had reached the end of the road after a historic season. With tearful eyes, Leone, Sparks and Green made their way up to the arena’s balcony where they awaited their turn for post-game interviews and where they couldn’t help but watch as the Marietta faithful took to the court to embrace their team. When it came time for interviews, Leone still found the time to credit the Pioneers and what they have accomplished.

“When you have multiple pieces like they do, they’re going to consistently put pressure on you and that’s a credit to them,” Leone said. “They deserve a lot of credit, they’re a really good team.”

Leone also explained where their team went wrong in their battle with the Pioneers. He pointed out flaws that he thought cost his team the game but made sure to note that it was not for a lack of effort from his squad.

“We had our opportunities, we got up [by] nine with 13 minutes to go and we had a really bad segment after they called timeout where I think we turned the ball over two or three times and had a foul,” Leone said. “You’ve got to continue to keep pressure on them, that was our opportunity and we didn’t cash in on it but nothing negative to say about our team, we really competed.”

Sparks went on to speak about what the season has meant to him. He spoke about how he has seen himself grow as a player and as a person. He reflected on the enjoyment and the love he felt about the season as a whole.

“Having a new group of guys from my freshman year, learning to play with other people, learning to be unselfish, making sacrifices, it’s definitely been a development year for me,” Sparks said. “I think it’s been the most fun year for me, I really loved it.”

Leone emphasized his belief that this team was something special. Despite previous Lakers teams that Leone has coached he made sure to note how much this group of players meant to him following their historic run.

“I think that the enthusiasm that the group played with [and] the cohesiveness that we had, it’s very hard to try and replicate these kinds of teams,” Leone said. “Without being greedy, I just wanted the team to know how enjoyable this was for us. We gave our fans and our alumni and the people surrounding the program a lot of memories this year. 27-3 is a great record … to have it end here it’s tough because we were behind, but you don’t want to take away from everything the team has accomplished.”

Leone, Sparks and Green rounded off the post-game press conference by thanking their fans and the Laker community who supported them throughout the season. Green mentioned how much it meant playing on the road the last few weeks and still having fans there to support him and his teammates.

“They [the fans] have been supporting us all year,” Green said. “Last weekend they came out and this weekend we had support and being on the road, we know it’s going to be tough, so just a little support still mattered.”

Leone made a final mention of how much the community’s support meant to him and his team. Jokingly referencing Oswego State being a hockey school, he made sure the support he and his squad received as the season developed did not go unnoticed. 

“I took the job here, we’re a hockey school and it’s nice now, you can look up and see seven out of 11 years to make the tournament,” Leone said. “I think we’ve certainly put our stamp on the community in terms of generating some excitement.”

The Lakers then swiftly left the press conference to rejoin their brothers in the locker room. As the team prepares for some more-than-well-earned rest, fans and the Oswego State community cannot be more proud of everything these players and this team has done. With a final record of 27-3, the team broke the program’s record for most wins in a season and tied history with the farthest any Lakers team has made it in the NCAA tournament.

The names of these Lakers will not soon be forgotten as they will forever be written in the history books of Oswego State. Without a doubt this season has been one to remember for all who witnessed it.