Oswego State Lakers men’s basketball currently sits in sixth place in the SUNYAC standings with six games remaining in the regular season. At 9-10 overall and 6-6 in conference, they hold the final playoff spot and hope to return to the SUNYAC Championships once again for the 16th straight season in their program.
“The last two weeks have been pivotal for us,” head coach Jason Leone said. “We’re coming to practice every day and the games with a smile on our face. The way we’re carrying ourselves, we’re trying to inject enthusiasm and positivity into everything we do.”
The Lakers have gone 2-2 the past few weeks, but two of their losses to top SUNYAC teams in SUNY Cortland and the College at Brockport were by single digits. Despite the team not manufacturing consistent winning, Leone feels confident they have established an identity that they will work with in the final stretch.
“Right now, I think we’ve found something that really works for us,” Leone said. “We’ve played as well as we played here the last 14 to 15 days.”
The depth of scoring in points per game has steadily increased for the Lakers, as they have leaned on a six-man rotation consisting of Jamir Ferebee (16.1), Ian Schupp (11.7), Liam Sanborn (9.7), Tyler Pierre (9.7), Josh Ivey (9.3) and Brandan Gartland (9.1).
This is a different type of an attack for a Leone-coached team, who in the past would usually rely on a bulk of three to four players to combine for that near total.
“Balance is definitely a factor in winning games, especially this time of year,” Leone said. “What we’ve seen is a couple of our younger players are now starting to play like juniors and seniors.”
Leone is referring to the starting freshman point-guard Sanborn and starting guard Gartland. Gartland in particular had a career weekend. After celebrating his 20th birthday Jan. 25, he went to SUNY Geneseo the next night
and dropped a career-high 25 points in their 72-70 victory. The next day, in their 74-70 loss to the College at Brockport, he dropped 20 points and was named this week’s Oswego State Athlete of the Week.
“It gives me a lot of confidence,” Gartland said. “I remember last year I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my shot. Seeing the ball go in a lot gives me confidence. Teammates are looking for me, so I’m just going in.”
Gartland was lethal all of last weekend from beyond the arc, totaling 11 3-pointers made out of 13 attempts. Leone believes that his game will eventually progress to making more plays inside the arc.
“Brandan’s very improved. We had really high hopes for him when we recruited him,” Leone said. “I’m hopeful that the last two years of the end of his career and the end of this year that he shows he can do things other than make open threes. I think he can be somebody that can get to the foul line a little bit more and get his own shot eventually.”
Social media erupted the night of Jan. 26 at the conclusion of the men’s basketball team’s narrow 72-70 victory over SUNY Geneseo. After the Knights committed a turnover with 1.9 seconds remaining and the game knotted 70-70, the Lakers had one last chance to advance it across the full court for a last second shot.
As Josh Ivey heaved it from the opposing baseline, the ball ricocheted off Ferebee and into the hands of Schupp, who quickly shot it before the buzzer as it went through for the win.
“I knew I can get a shot off, but I just had to throw it up there,” Schupp confessed.
Schupp got off to a hot start in that game, scoring five points in the first two minutes, but went on a dry spell, missing eight-straight shots up to the final play of the game. Leone still saw it as a no-brainer to have his senior guard in there for that moment.
“Those guys have been in big situations before. That play was a great example of team work,” Leone said.
With plenty of options to utilize for Leone, closing out games have been a tough go outside of the SUNY Geneseo victory. The Lakers have lost five SUNYAC games this season by single digits, their most recent one being against the College at Brockport as they surrendered a 15-point second-half lead and only scored eight points the final seven and a half minutes of the game.
“It is an adjustment [closing out games],” Leone said. “We turned the ball over 20 times. I think we had 13 in the second half. We didn’t execute some things we know how to do in those situations.”
With six games left until SUNYAC playoffs, the Lakers lead the final spot by 2.5 games over SUNY Potsdam. They will travel up north this weekend with a chance to separate themselves and avenge home losses this season from Plattsburgh State and SUNY Potsdam.
“I think teams are going to sleep on us,” Schupp said. “These last six games is when the playoffs start. It’s a good feeling being the underdog for sure. I think we can still surprise a lot of people.”
Photo: Austin Dearborn | The Oswegonian
