The no.6 Oswego State men’s basketball team continued their undefeated in-conference win streak on Feb. 2 and 3 against rivals Plattsburgh State and SUNY Potsdam.

Their first matchup was against the Cardinals and the lead went back and forth for the majority of the first half, but the Lakers broke away and went on to win 80-67.

For the first five minutes, not many buckets were made as each team traded off missed 3-pointers and defensive rebounds. The Cardinals kept up with the Lakers’ pace for the first ten minutes of the matchup even after back-to-back 3-pointers from Ahkee Anderson. The Cardinals had their last lead of the game with 11:37 left on the clock on a fastbreak jumper. 

The Lakers struggled for the next couple of minutes with missed layup after missed layup, but Kaleb Cook dragged them out of their slump with two shots from just outside the paint. After a couple more shots from Jamal Achille, the Lakers had their first sizable lead of the game. After another 3-pointer, and more shots made by Achille and Julien Crittendon, the Lakers went into the half with a score of 37-31. The Lakers’ defense was the reason they were up in this game as the offense had a shooting percentage of 34% heading into halftime.

Thirty-four percent was not going to cut it in a crucial second half, but the Lakers picked it up and shot 55% from the field after halftime. Anderson and Achille were critical in this improvement, as they slashed their way through the Cardinals’ defense with 12 combined points in the paint. The Lakers also improved dramatically from three, as Anderson, Achille and Jeremiah Sparks splashed for 50% from the line. The closest the Cardinals got was seven points with under three minutes left as the Lakers won 80-67.

Anderson had a day, going 4-7 from three for 21 points with seven assists and seven rebounds. Sparks recorded a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

The Lakers went on to face a struggling 3-19 Potsdam Bears team. The Bears’ woes continued as they did not have a lead after five minutes into the matchup. The Lakers dominated the Bears by a score of 98-72.

After the Bears put up smart shots early in the first half to put themselves up 7-4, the Lakers put their foot on the gas pedal. A few layups, a couple 3-pointers from Anderson and the Lakers found themselves up 15-7 two minutes later. The Bears were not put away just yet, as faults on defense from the Lakers brought them up only by two points halfway through the first. Yet again, the Lakers woke up and rattled off layup after layup until they were up ten a minute after being only up two. The Lakers’ defense was gassed late in the half, and the Bears capitalized as they were only down five heading into halftime.

That lead went down to three a few minutes into the second half, but again the Lakers got hot when the pressure was on them, splashing three 3-pointers in the matter of a minute to bring their lead back to a comfortable 12 points. The Bears never saw a single-digit deficit for the rest of the game as three different Lakers scored in double figures, and ten different Lakers scored throughout the game. The Lakers went on a 13-0 run in the last few minutes of the second half, dismantling the Bears by a score of 98-72.

Anderson again had a day, as with only 20 minutes of game time he went 4-4 from three and led the team with 22 points. Cartier Bowman recorded a double-double against the Bears, notching 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Lakers hope to continue their undefeated SUNYAC run, as they have games coming up against SUNY Geneseo on Feb. 9 and SUNY Brockport on Feb. 10. 

Photo by: Oswego Athletics