Looking to break a two-game losing streak and pick up its second conference win of the season, the Oswego State Lakers welcome the Plattsburgh Cardinals tonight at the Max Ziel Gymnasium.
The game is a rematch of last season’s SUNYAC Championship, a game the Lakers won in Plattsburgh 70-58 to bring home the title as SUNYAC Champions. The Lakers may have beaten the Cardinals in the deciding game, but they lost both regular season matchups and will look to improve their regular season mark against their rivals. The Lakers last regular season win against the Cardinals came on Dec. 6, 2013.
Despite being 8-3 overall this season, the Lakers are only 1-3 in SUNYAC conference play, which puts them in the near the bottom in the standings. A victory over their rivals would help Coach Jason Leone’s in the standings and in confidence.
The Lakers have lost two in a row after their strong 8-1 start to the season. After getting blown out by the Oneonta State Red Dragons on January 5 after a poor first half, they suffered a 77-67 overtime loss to the Brockport Golden Eagles on January 12 which saw them lead in the closing seconds of regulation before a last-second miracle basket (that even made it onto ESPN’s Sportscenter) by the Golden Eagles forced it into overtime.
As leaders of the SUNYAC with a 9-2 overall record and 4-0 record in conference play, the Cardinals visit Oswego on a hot streak. They have their last five games and are coming off a 98-91 victory over the Buffalo State Bengals earlier in the week.
The Lakers will look to continue relying on their stout defense. Despite a surprising performance against Oneonta which saw them give up 90 points, the Lakers still boast the 15th best defense in the country, giving up only 62.2 points per game, which is also the best among teams in the SUNYAC. They also rank in the top 50 in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to a 30.2 percent clip.
Plattsburgh’s defense will provide a tough obstacle for the Lakers, however. They are second in the country in three-point defense, holding opponents to 25.4 percent from beyond the arc. They are also in the top 50 nationwide in total field goal percentage defense, with opponents only shooting 39.8 percent from the floor against them.
The Lakers will not only have to contend with the Cardinals defense, but also their own miscues. The Lakers average 10.4 turnovers per game, the worst in the SUNYAC and 12th worst in the country. Out of their 11 games, five of them have seen the Lakers turn the ball over in double digit figures, though only two of those games resulted in defeats, including their previous game against The College at Brockport.
The Lakers will look to their two main pillars in the front court in Brian Sortino and Walter Sampson, the two leading scorers who are averaging 17.6 and 13.1 points per game, respectively. When they find a scoring touch, the Lakers are in good shape in any contest. They are also the Lakers top two facilitators, with both holding the top two spots on the team in assists. Though the Lakers don’t average many assists as a team, in fact they are in the bottom five in the entire country in assists per game at 8.8 with only 97 team assists in 11 games.
Tip off will be at 7:30 p.m.
