In a stretch that stood to test the strength of the Oswego State men’s basketball team, the Lakers emerged unscathed as they defeated SUNY Oneonta, SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Geneseo to push their winning streak to 12 games.

For the first game of the weekend, Oswego State traveled to Oneonta for a highly anticipated matchup. At the time of tip-off, the Red Dragons were eighth in all of division three in offensive rebounds per game. Lakers head coach Jason Leone knew this going in and prepared his team for the challenge ahead of them.

“We had to show our team some film of exactly what [Oneonta’s] offensive rebound technique looked like,” Leone said. “We had to emphasize during our scrimmaging moments where guys were going to come from and we just had to hold guys accountable.”

The game started off slow with both team’s defenses proving difficult to break down. Five first half turnovers and a handful of missed easy chances led to a sloppy first half display from Oswego State. Not much was different on the other side of the ball. Four turnovers and some equally easy chances not taken by the Red Dragons led to a low scoring and tightly contested half.

For the Lakers, Jeremiah Sparks acted as the sole bright spot for the offense. A member of last season’s First Team All-Conference, Sparks put up 12 of the 34 points Oswego State mustered up in the first 20 minutes. For the fourth time this season and the first time since the Dec. 2 loss to SUNY Brockport, the Lakers trailed at halftime. This time only behind by one point, 34-35.

The second half threatened to turn for the worse for the Lakers as Oneonta secured three offensive rebounds after four shots. Oswego State did everything they could, running around on defense and finally secured a defensive rebound as none of the shots fell for the Red Dragons. The second half was just as highly contested as the first with the scores rarely separating by more than one possession. Luckily for the Lakers, Sparks continued to shine. Nearly every other bucket that fell for Oswego State was courtesy of the veteran guard. A 10-2 run late in the match  in favor of the Lakers and Sparks’ new season high in points was enough to lift the team over their opponents.

After such a physically taxing game Leone was wary that there may be signs of fatigue as his team went into the next day’s contest against the Hawks.

“The guys knew that was a very important win and that it was going to physically take its toll on us,” Leone said. “We challenged the guys that this is a signature moment in our season and you’re going to learn a lot about yourself with your enthusiasm and your ability to dial it up again and obviously they passed that test with flying colors.”

While the game did get off to a slower start, the implementation of senior guard Kaleb Cook made all the difference. Before Cook touched the court, the score was 8-12 in favor of New Paltz. The following six minutes the Lakers went on a dominant 19-2 run with Cook contributing 13. Leone had nothing but praise for another one of his team veterans after the game.

“He kind of had an out-of-body experience,” Leone said. “Every time he touched the ball he scored … I thought that was a big part of the game. Because he did well, that really invigorated our team.”

Cook’s 19 points for the game exclusively came in the first half and played a huge part in putting the Hawks in a hole in which they did not not escape. The half ended following a 20-2 points run for Oswego that ballooned the score to 51-23 at the break. On top of the stellar offense, the Lakers defense also played a role in splitting the two sides. Oswego State won the rebound battle and limited New Paltz to only 32 points in the paint compared to their 56.

Immediately after halftime, the Hawks put up a bit more of a fight but the point was mute as the Lakers resumed their beat down. While the first half had Cook, the second half saw the emergence of junior forward Cartier Bowman. He opened the scoring of the half with a tough And-1 basket and threw down a dunk before leading a stretch where he scored 13 of the Lakers 15 points. Bowman said that there was no game plan set to get the ball into his hands. Instead it was more of a process of giving it to whoever was hot at the time.

“In the second half I was able to get on the offensive glass, get to the free throw line and get transition points so I was able to find my success that way,” Bowman said. “I was just trying to let the ball find me in our offense.”

The Lakers continued to push and following more excellent offense, moved their point total into the triple digits for the third time this season. At the sound of the final buzzer, the Lakers win streak moved to 11 as they beat the Hawks 106-75 on a court where they lost last year. In the game the Lakers also welcomed the return of senior center Luke Van Slyke who was sidelined early in the season due to a concussion. Leone said that it was good to see another leader on the team back out on the court.

With only two days off between their intensive weekend and their next game against SUNY Geneseo, Bowman said there are no worries about fitness before the matchup.

“Some people still might be a little fatigued with some sore legs because of the two big games this past weekend,” Leone said. “But with our conditioning and how fast we are, I think we should be fine going into Geneseo.”

Bowman was proved right as the Lakers went on to put up their second triple digit performance in a row against the Knights. While both sides jostled for a lead in the early goings of the game, Sparks once again took the reins, scoring ten of the first 12 points for Oswego State. Amidst his run of success in the first half, one of his jumpers pushed him over the 1,000 point mark for his college career. As a junior, Sparks had put himself in a class of his own. Unfortunately, the celebration was unable to last. While the Lakers built up an eight point lead late in the half, Geneseo, led by Kevin Ranaghan shifted the momentum of the game on a dime. An 11-4 point run by the Knights put them within a point of the visitors. A buzzer beater attempt from Geneseo to take the lead before halftime fell just short and Oswego escaped leading 33-32 at the break.

Several missed opportunities lead to the Lakers 38% field goal percentage in the first half. Meanwhile their opponents made their shots count as they recorded a field goal percentage of just over 46% in the first 20 minutes.

While the Knights took the momentum into the locker room with them, the Lakers snatched it back almost immediately as they started off the second half with a 23-6 point run. The dazzling run the likes of what one expects from the SUNYAC leaders put a sufficient gap between the sides. Determined not to stop there, what followed was a masterclass in 3-point shooting courtesy of Oswego State. Of the next 27 points that the Lakers scored, 24 of them were from beyond the arc. This pushed the lead to 32-points late in the game. 

If there was any hope for another late run by the Knights to put a dent in their lead it was all but buried. Oswego State had firmly put their stamp on the game with a 67-point second half. A last ditch steal and layup from junior guard Sean Edwards helped the Lakers reach triple digits for the second time in four days as the Lakers won the game by a score of 100-62.

After a 20-day absence, Oswego State returns home for their next game against the Plattsburgh State Cardinals on Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The following day the SUNY Potsdam Bears come to town and will tip-off against the Lakers at 4 p.m. 

Photo provided by: Jarrad Wakefield (Instagram: @jarrad_wakefield)