The Oswego State men’s basketball team finished their road to the playoffs with two more wins against SUNY Fredonia and Buffalo State on Feb. 16 and 17. The Lakers’ first matchup was against the Fredonia Blue Devils.

During the first three minutes, the game was head to head with a little advantage score of 6-7, with Cartier Bowman scoring five points. After that, the Lakers started to dominate the game and went about four minutes without allowing a single point. The Lakers opened a 12-point advantage with only eight minutes within the first half. The Blue Devils tried to reduce the score with a jumper and a free throw, but the Lakers quickly reacted and scored.

The Lakers continued to increase the lead and ended up with a 21-point lead with seven minutes remaining, with a score of 30-9. The Lakers decided to substitute many players, and the game tightened with two minutes of back-and-forth points for both teams. In the last five minutes of the half, the Lakers increased the score to 57-29, a total of 28 points of advantage. Julien Crittendon, Bowman and Kenny Lazo scored in the final stretch of the half.

The second half started, and the Lakers did not stop pushing, despite Fredonia scoring two good layups and tried to reduce the damage. However, the Lakers rapidly played his game and increased the difference. In just five minutes of the second half, the lead was 34 points, and the score was 75-41. Kaleb Cook and Sparks scored, increasing the difference. 

With 13 and a half minutes left, the Lakers scored their 2000th point of the season, reaching an incredible milestone for this undefeated season.

Fredonia reduced the score several times in the next five minutes, but the Lakers were quick to score next and increase the lead to 40 points with ten minutes remaining. Crittendon and Cook scored the most points on the night with 18 points each, and in the final ten minutes, it was no different. Steven Bradley and Chris Toscano also scored many points in the final minutes. With three minutes left, the Lakers opened up a 51-point lead, making it 109-58. The Blue Devils reduced this advantage in the final minutes until the final score of 111-70.

The Lakers played their last match of the regular season against Buffalo State in a game full of emotions. They celebrated seniors Luke Van Slyke, Cartier Bowman, Julien Crittendon, Kaleb Cook, Jamal Achille and Jeremiah Sparks for their last regular season game with the Lakers.

The Lakers started putting pressure on and forced a timeout by the Bengals two minutes into the game. Achille and Van Slyke scored two points each. After the timeout, the Bengals conceded one point but managed to score two after a foul committed by the Lakers. Soon after, the Lakers opened a substantial lead, scoring eight points in a row without conceding any at the end of the match’s first five minutes. The Lakers conceded four points but scored soon after without feeling the pressure. After the Bengals cut the lead to nine points seven minutes into the game, it was 15-6. The Lakers increased the lead with three-pointers scored by Lazo and Ahkee Anderson and one free throw.

The Lakers continued to open the lead, but the Bengals scored one point for every three scored. The lead only increased with sequences of layups and jumpers. Sparks created many chances for the Lakers to end the first half with an advantage of 20 points and a score of 42-22.

The first five minutes of the second half went back and forth, with Van Slyke scoring three layups and Sparks creating many chances for the Lakers. After 15 minutes left in the game, the Bengals made several fouls on the Lakers, and the advantage increased little by little, but the game did not progress much, as it was continually stopped.

The Lakers gradually increased their lead, finishing at 91-53. Van Slyke scored a career-high in points and was man of the match with 23 points scored.

The Lakers will face SUNY Cortland on Feb. 23, in the Max Ziel for the SUNYAC playoffs semifinals. The last clashes against the Red Dragons ended in victory for the Lakers. The previous defeat against the Red Dragons was in 2020. Since then, the Lakers have been on a seven-game winning streak. In the other semifinal game, SUNY Oneonta and SUNY New Paltz face each other for a place in the championship. The final will be on Feb. 24.

Photo by: Vanessa Choquette