Looking to keep their win streak alive, the Oswego State men’s basketball had back-to-back SUNYAC matchups against Cortland and New Paltz. 

The Lakers traveled south on Saturday looking to sweep the season series against the Red Dragons. 

The Red Dragons controlled the pace of play at the beginning of the first half, building a six-point lead and limiting the Lakers to just seven points in the first 12 minutes. However, the SUNYAC points leader, Jeremiah Sparks, took over scoring eight points in 47 seconds to put the Lakers ahead 17-14 late in the first half. The Lakers closed out the first 20 minutes piling on shots and shutting down the Red Dragons offense. Sparks contributed for half of the team’s points as the Lakers held a 28-18 lead entering halftime. 

The Red Dragons cut the lead to five to start the second half, but the Lakers started to find a groove on offense, preventing any comeback. With just over six minutes remaining in the game, the Lakers held a 15-point lead and did not look back after that as they closed out the game with a 71-52 win. 

Four Lakers finished with double-digit points led by Sparks with 20 followed by Ahkee Anderson with 18, and Jamal Achille and Cartier Bowman with 10 each.

The team shot 42.4% from the field and had 30 points in the paint, 13 bench points and 12 points off turnovers. On the other side of the court, the Lakers held the Red Dragons to 39.3% shooting from the field, 28 points in the paint, six points off turnovers and three bench points.

After their big win against the Red Dragons, the Lakers traveled back home to the Max Ziel Gymnasium for a showdown with the no.2 team in the SUNYAC. 

The Lakers took control in the beginning of the game going up 11-4 with 13:42 left to play in the first half. After the slow start, the Hawks closed in on the Lakers’ lead with help from their bench and five 3-pointers. With five minutes remaining in the half the score was tied 28-28, but the Hawks went on a 10-5 scoring run to take a 5-point lead entering the break. 

The second half saw both teams go on scoring runs. The Lakers came out firing, scoring on four straight possessions. After a quick jumper from Anderson, a 3-pointer from Sean Edwards, and two baskets from Sparks, the Lakers found themselves on a 9-0 run and in the lead. The Hawks were able to slow down the Lakers’ attack and find their rhythm from three-point land once again to go up as much as nine points with 5:53 remaining in the game. The Lakers locked down defensively and saw a spark from their offense as they tied the game at 71 with 1:28 remaining. After a layup from the Hawks, the ball was in Sparks’ hand to deliver another clutch moment and he delivered with the game-tying layup with 36 seconds left. Both teams got a chance to win it in regulation but neither could cash in, so the game headed to overtime. 

The Lakers took an early lead after buckets from Sparks and Bowman, but the Hawks hung around. After a layup cut the Lakers’ lead to 84-83, the Hawks stole the ball and hoisted up the go-ahead 3-pointer with four seconds remaining, but it was no good. The Lakers held on to win and are now 18-1 on the season. 

Sparks led the team in scoring with 31 points and Anderson added another 19. The Lakers made half of their field goals and dominated the paint with 46 points. The Hawks were lights out from deep going 12-26 and got a big boost from their bench.

The Lakers will look to keep their 11-game win streak alive on the road against Plattsburgh State at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, Feb. 2.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics