The Oswego men’s basketball team lost their SUNYAC semi-final matchup against the Cortland Red Dragons this past Friday in New Paltz, marking the end of their 2024-25 season. 

The Lakers and the Red Dragons faced off twice in the regular season, with each team taking a victory at home. In their most recent matchup one week prior, the Lakers won by an impressive 34 points to clinch a playoff spot. The stage was set for both teams who seemed to be quite evenly matched and the stakes were the highest they had been all season. 

The first half started out with Lakers’ Ahkee Anderson scoring the first two points of the game on a layup. The Lakers would not lead again in this game after this point. This was then followed by seven straight points by the Red Dragons, who started to push the pace on offense early. The Lakers kept it close for the next seven minutes or so, mainly fueled by the offensive efforts of Gary McLane, who had nine points in this timespan. After this point, the scoreboard was very one-sided for the remainder of the first half. The Lakers would not score for the final four minutes of the first half, as the Red Dragons managed to go on a 12-0 run and make the score  39-20 heading into halftime. The second half of play saw much back and forth between the SUNYAC rivals, with the Red Dragons’ lead staying at 19 points for the first seven minutes of the half. 

The Lakers finally gained traction on offense with 10 minutes left in the contest, with a three-pointer from Kenny Lazo followed by a fastbreak dunk by Gary McLane and a steal by Steven Bradley that led to an easy open layup. 

The Red Dragons called a timeout at this point with a 16-point lead and the Lakers were able to come out of the timeout with the same energy. With a pair of layups by McLane and Bradley and two made free throws from Deacon Judd, the lead was now down to 11 points. Kenny Lazo would help close the gap to a three point deficit with a pair of threes and the Lakers found themselves back in the game with 2 minutes left. 

Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Red Dragons were able to drive down and draw a foul off of a bucket by Kendrick Wilson. After this, they capitalized on a missed three-pointer by Steven Bradley and drove down and scored another layup to put the lead up to eight and essentially closing out the game. Despite the late push by the Lakers, the Lakers were never able to close the gap and ultimately lost the contest 74-65. 

The Lakers men’s basketball team finished out the season with an overall record of 17 wins and 9 losses, while finishing with 13 wins and 5 losses in SUNYAC play. The Lakers now look forward to their 2025-26 campaign with a team that will look very different with eight seniors graduating.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics