In their first home game of the season, the Oswego State men’s basketball team secured victory over SUNY Fredonia 79-60.

The first league game of the season for the reigning SUNYAC champions started off better than they could have ever asked. Dialed in from beyond the arc, seven of the Lakers first ten baskets were three pointers as the home team jumped out to an early 27-6 lead. With senior forward Jamal Achille out via injury, Oswego State fell back on their lights out team shooting to provide the early lead. Five different players drained the first five baskets in the Lakers dominant first half.

Their lead would surge to 25 points before the Blue Devils could get into double digits. Oswego State played with freedom, thriving off each other’s energy with great series of ball movement that, along with high effort putbacks and layups, resulted in points for the home side. Head coach of the Lakers, Jason Leone, was happy with his team’s response on the night after coming off the 77-80 loss they faced a week earlier at Nazareth College.

“I thought we came out with a lot of enthusiasm, especially defensively we really imposed our will which was good to see. As a coach you’re looking to see how your team responds … [and] I thought we set the tone in the first half,” Leone said.

The Lakers went into halftime up 46-25 with little sign of slowing down despite a few consecutive baskets from Fredonia towards the end of the first 20 minutes. Blue Devils junior guard AJ Knight, who finished with 22 points, was the one of the few bright spots on the opposing side of the ball. He had just under half of his side’s points going into the break.

What the Lakers weren’t prepared for was the ferocity that Fredonia would come out with after the half. Oswego State scored the first six points of the half and looked prepared to put the game to bed early. However, an immediate 20-6 in favor of the Blue Devils cut the Lakers lead severely. Only up by 14 points, Oswego State found themselves jockeying with their opponents as they tried to rebuild their lead.

One player who made an impact for the Lakers was junior forward Cartier Bowman. In an attempt to recapture momentum and boost his team’s energy, Bowman unleashed a ferocious dunk over his defender that got that got his bench and some fans on their feet. Leone has been happy with the production he has seen from his new addition; however he knows the Saint Rose College transfer can continue to improve.

“Statistically he’s doing fine. We’re still working with him on making as many winning plays … because his mistakes are magnified with us where maybe they weren’t in a program where he wasn’t a starter all the time,” Leone said.

The rest of the game was plagued by fouls with Oswego State reaching the double bonus deep in the second half. A flurry of late three pointers courtesy of junior guard Jeremiah Sparks, sophomore guard Joey Rowback and senior guard Kaleb Cook pushed padded the lead. Fredonia’s second half performance in which they outscored the Lakers 35-33, fell well short of spoiling the opening night at the Max Ziel Gymnasium. Leone, while not upset with putting a game in the win column, still believes there is more to his team that they have not shown so far this campaign.

“I’m certainly not disappointed that we won but you have to evaluate what happened in the game and we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re not playing well for enough of the 40 minutes right now,” Leone said.

He wants his team to focus on the small details, knowing that this will be the difference maker when it comes to taking down tougher opponents and getting into the postseason tournament come March.

“In order to win the games, we have to win, to be in the conference tournament and play in March, these things have got to start to show improvement,” Leone said.

Oswego State’s next challenge will be SUNY Brockport who they will face at home on Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles finished third in SUNYAC standings last season behind only the Lakers and SUNY Oneonta.

Photo Provided by oswegolakers.com