The SUNYAC regular season champion Oswego State Lakers have learned their fate going into the conference Final Four as they will play SUNY New Paltz.

On Feb. 22 the team held a press conference to talk about their upcoming matchup, how they are preparing and what it takes to win games at this stage of the season.

Head coach Jason Leone kicked things off by crediting his opponents. He talked about how difficult it is to prepare against the Hawks because of the type of system they run, their pace and how dynamic their team is.

“They run really good offense first of all,” Leone said. “From a preparation standpoint it’s difficult to tell our players they’re going to do this because they’re basically an abstract offense.”

Leone also spoke about his team’s defensive struggles in their last week of the season against SUNY Brockport and SUNY Fredonia and how that will need to improve moving forward. Junior guard Jeremiah Sparks said that at this point it’s all a mental battle.

“I think it’s just a mental thing,” Sparks said. “Knowing where to be at the right place and the right time, not letting the fatigue get to you.”

Junior forward Cartier Bowman, who will be making his SUNYAC playoff debut, also chimed in to say that if there ever was a time to buy into Leone’s system, it’s now.

“Coach has been telling us all year that when it comes to this time of the year, that one mistake that we make can cost us games,” Bowman said. “So we need to lock in now and buy in [to the system].”

Another thing that Leone emphasized is that communication and trust must be at an all-time high at this point of the season. He believes that wins come from what his players have learned throughout the year and how inevitably it comes down to them making a play at the end of the day.

“The deeper you get into a season it really is about making plays and it’s about the players,” Leone said. “It’s a little bit less about schemes and more about the habits you’ve hopefully built from the start of the season until this point. I truly believe that winning and losing is a product of process throughout the year. One of the reasons we play the way we do from a schematic approach is we give these guys a lot of freedom … nobody ever wins these games without going and making plays.”

The SUNYAC Final Four will be hosted in Oswego State’s Max Ziel Gymnasium for the second straight year. This is something that Sparks and the rest of the team are embracing as they will yet again get the chance to play in front of their loved ones.

“Honestly, there’s no better feeling,” Sparks said. “We definitely don’t want to get on the road, we want to play in front of our friends and family. It’s a great feeling, we’re honored.”

Senior forward Jamal Achille also chimed in as he noted the real advantage playing at home provides.

“It’s a great feeling, it’s great to play on your home court and get that energy from our home crowd,” Achille said. “Everyone wants to host on their home court because it really is an advantage.”

Sparks also said that while it was nice last weekend to get their revenge win over Brockport, the last team to beat the Lakers this year, their focus is not on the past. Instead, they are continuing to subscribe to their day-by-day approach as they prepare for the SUNYACs

“It’s good to get one back that we lost in the beginning of the year but now we’ve moved on,” Sparks said. “We’ve got the semi-finals coming up so we aren’t worried about who we play next round, we’re just worried about who is in front of us.

The Lakers play the Hawks on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. after Brockport takes on SUNY Cortland for the first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Oswego State Athletics are urging fans to come out wearing gold to “Pack the Ziel.” Tickets are on sale now at https://oswego.universitytickets.com/w/default.aspx?PageNumber=2.

Photo by: Spencer Bates