While the temperatures outside were low, inside the Max Ziel Gymnasium the Oswego State men’s basketball team remained red hot, improving their win streak to 16 games after defeating SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Oneonta.

In their first game of the weekend, Oswego State put on a masterclass on both ends of the court as they defeated the Hawks 112-53.

After shaking off some early rust, the Lakers scored their first basket after nearly four minutes. Eight straight points by the Lakers as well as a defense who continuously shut down any offense by the Hawks jump started the squad. Sophomore guard Joey Rowback and senior guard Devin Green made a dynamic duo in the early stages of the game combining for 18 of the first 25 points.

Great ball movement was also a key for Oswego State as they found success in the paint, scoring 64 points on the interior for the game compared to the 22 by their opponents. Junior guard Jeremiah Sparks capped off the first half with a fancy move in which he lost his defender and maneuvered through the defense for a silky-smooth layup that put the Lakers up 49-25 after the first 20 minutes.

Oswego State head coach Jason Leone was more than happy with his team’s performance in the game as he said it was much better compared to their previous two.

“The thing with our team is that we’re in great physical condition and we just keep coming at you, and I thought that showed today,” Leone said. “We buckled down, we guarded and … the nice thing is our bench has really developed now where guys don’t do the right things, we put other guys in and their focus is there.”

During the halftime interval, something extraordinary was brewed in the Lakers locker room. After two consecutive baskets by the Hawks, the Lakers went on an all-out assault on the New Paltz basket with a 38-5 run led by Sparks. Ten different players got in on the act that was highlighted by a Sparks dunk that got everyone in attendance on their feet.

While the offense was impressive, it would not have been possible without a full team effort. The Oswego State bench outscored their opponents 59-24 with 41 of those points coming in the second half. Leone spoke about how his bench has given them the edge in several games.

“It’s important because if you want to play at the tempo we want to play at, it can’t be a scenario where we can just do it with a group of five or six guys,” Leone said. “We have been able to keep coming in waves so to speak so those guys being able to come into the game and play well and have started to find a level of comfortability as the year has gone on has certainly helped us play the way we prefer to play.”

Despite the score margin being insurmountable, the Lakers piled on another 16-5 run for good measure which brought the final score to 112-53, the largest margin of victory by Oswego State this year.

The next day’s game against SUNY Oneonta would be a much different story. In their penultimate home game of the season, the Lakers just about handled business, winning by a score of 58-51.

It was a slow start for Oswego State as their offense struggled with several missed opportunities in the opening minutes. In one case, the Lakers had three chances following two big offensive rebounds but came away with no points to show for it.

The Lakers got moving and would put together a nice 10-2 scoring run before the offense once again slowed. Luckily for Oswego State, their defense was up to par as they held Oneonta’s offense to an even slower start. However, a sudden change of momentum saw Oneonta go on an 11-2 run which tightened the score back up at 27-21. The Lakers would have the last word in the half as Devin Green hit a buzzer beater 3-pointer in the face of his defender, who he then stared down as he made his way to the bench. The clutch bucket pushed the score to 30-21 in favor of Oswego State going into the break.

The second half was just as much of a nailbiter as the first with both sides trading buckets and the lead waxing and waning for the Lakers. No individual player stood out for Oswego State in this half with scoring more coming by committee.

For most of the second half the Lakers kept their distance by about ten points. However, a late defensive slip allowed the Red Dragons to go on a 6-0 run that had everyone in the Max Ziel Gymnasium on the edge of their seats. With the slim five-point lead, Oneonta mounted a quick offensive push that would have put the score within one possession, were it not for a big-time block courtesy of none other than Sparks. Four drained free throws by the Lakers put the game on ice. By a slim margin, Oswego State pushed their win streak to 16 games.

Leone was upbeat following the tight win as he stressed the importance of his team’s ability to win games while in close quarters with their opponents.

“It was a hard-fought win but a necessary win for us because I needed to see that we can win a game when the ball wasn’t going in the basket,” Leone said. “It’s really hard to win a game when you shoot 32% … and thankfully we were locked in defensively.”

The Lakers take on SUNY Cortland next at home for what will be their final home game of the regular season. The affair will tip off at 4 p.m. on Feb. 11.

Photo provided by: Hannah Pinnock