Oswego State Lakers men’s basketball defeats the Buffalo State Bengals 71-70 to improve to 7-3 on the season, and 3-1 in SUNYAC’s.
Keith Tyson led the way for the Lakers with 23 points, and six rebounds on 9-13 shooting. Brian Sortino nailed four three-pointers to go with his 21 points and game winner with 12 seconds left.
Both teams scratched and clawed back and forth for the entire 40 minutes of regulation. The game featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties.
“We just play with an incredible amount of grit, right now we have a lot of flaws,” Coach Leone said. “We found a way, we just keep getting tougher every game.”
The Lakers defense managed to keep yet another hot offensive team well under their average, Buffalo State was averaging 88 points per game going into today.
Mykelle Krecko had another day on the court with his six blocks, and 15 boards. He only scored one point, but it was a critical game-tying free throw with 47 seconds left.
“He affects the game in more ways than scoring,” Leone said. “It was a total team effort, but I just thought he was a big part of the game.”
Buffalo State trailed for most of the game, every time the Lakers looked to go on a big run, the Bengals had a response. Under five minutes left in the first half, the Lakers held a lead of 29-20, but the Bengals itched their way back to tie the game up 35-35 at halftime.
“They’re really good, you’re not going to blow teams out in this league,” Leone said. “We’re still a work in progress.”
Jamir Ferebee was the spark the Lakers needed once again off the bench, he totaled for 14 points, including 10 in the second half. Tyson got hot in the second half as well with 15 of his 23 points during that stretch.
“A lot of guys focus on Brian since he is one of our best players, so I just looked for the open spots and knock down my shots,” Tyson said. “As long as I stay confident and everything I know my shots will fall.”
From start to finish, it was Lovell Smith who was giving the Lakers defense some problems, he scored 31 points for the Bengals, finding his path’s to the basket.
Sortino went on a bit of a dry spell in the second half after scoring 11 in the first. Then he started heating up with six minutes to play by getting to the free throw line. He then would hit a go-ahead jumper with three minutes left to take a 67-66 lead.
The game was all tied up 68-68 with under a minute to go, then with 18 seconds left Mike Henry puts home the layup for Buffalo State to take a 70-68 lead.
With two timeouts remaining, Coach Leone stuck to his strategy of not using one and trusting the game with his seniors. The strategy worked perfectly as Sortino was able to drive up the floor for a good look, and nail a three with 12 seconds left.
Buffalo State proceeded to a quick in-bound and pushed the floor immediately, Mike Henry drove to the basket and drew a foul on his shot attempt, getting two chances at the line with only 0.6 seconds left.
With the home Laker crowd heckling, Henry missed the first free throw. A timeout was called before the second attempt by Oswego State.
Henry’s second attempt would then rattle in and out, ending the game for a Lakers 71-70 victory.
“It helps when my teammates trust me with the ball, and Coach Leone trusts me with the ball,” Sortino said. “We’re down by two, Coach Leone could’ve called a timeout, but he had faith in me and I just got it done today.”
Buffalo State drops to 1-3 in SUNYAC’s, and 5-3 overall. A crushing blow to a team that’s played well against the top teams in SUNYAC.
“Really good, a really good team,” Leone said. “Seniors were playing like seniors today, that was a senior win.”
Lakers get their second win of the weekend in a successful home stand over SUNYAC opponents. Now they go into the winter break with a lot positive energy, and plenty to look forward to in the spring semester.
Oswego State Lakers next game will be January 6th as they host the Oneonta Red Dragons, and look to avenge their only loss in SUNYAC so far this season.
