By Spencer Bates

The Oswego State men’s basketball team has conquered the SUNYAC following a championship win at home against SUNY Oneonta.

The Lakers and Max Ziel Gymnasium played host to the SUNYAC semifinals and finals over the days Feb. 25 and 26 with the final four teams, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY New Paltz and Oswego State battling for a ticket to the NCAA Div. III men’s basketball championship. The Golden Eagles took on the Red Dragons in the first semifinal matchup of the weekend with the Lakers squaring off against the Hawks directly afterwards. 

SUNY Oneonta took the lead immediately and never let go following an unbelievable performance from junior Dylan Trombley who racked up 30 points in the contest. The guard contributed nearly half of his entire team’s performance on the night after a dazzling shooting display. Shooting 11-21 from the field as well as 5-13 from beyond the arc, no other player in the game shined a light on Trombley. The only other Red Dragon to reach double digit points was junior Michael Ortale Jr. who recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds on the night.

On the other side of the court, scoring was shared amongst the Golden Eagles with three players reaching double digit points in the affair. David Grady, Mekhi Beckett and Jahidi Wallace put up 11, 14 and 17 points respectively. Despite some fleeting moments where it felt as though a fairytale comeback was mounting for SUNY Brockport, the game was much in the hand of their opposition. The Golden Eagles brought the game within two points with just over nine minute left to go in the game but the momentum changed hands and SUNY Oneonta was able to leave the Max Ziel Gymnasium victorious and with a ticket to the finals.

The following game featured hosts Oswego State taking on SUNY New Paltz, the only team to give them a loss in conference play this season. Head coach of the Lakers Jason Leone spoke about what went wrong in their previous matchup with the Hawks and how they used what they learned to catapult them to victory on the night.

“One of the things I talk to the players about all the time is making sure that we set the terms of the game early,” Leone said. “I think when we went down there two weeks ago we made some technical errors with our defensive gameplan, they saw the ball go in early and we were in a dogfight. Tonight we came out and we gave them nothing easy on the defensive end and we were able to get the ball out and run and where we’re the best is in the open floor.”

The highly anticipated matchup ended in glorious fashion for the home team as the Lakers pummeled their opponents 94-60, proving that the loss to the Hawks in conference play a few weeks prior was only a bump in the team’s race for a SUNYAC title.

The Hawks starters were held to just 26 points in total with the majority of their scoring coming from their bench with both Brandon Scott and Tyreik Frazier contributing 24 of a total 34 points by players from bench positions.

Meanwhile, the ruthless Lakers scored with ease as five players reached double digits in the game. Three of the five starters, Jeremiah Sparks, Devin Green and Jamal Achille scored 13, 12 and 11 points respectively and also put on a show defensively with 14 rebounds between them. Bench players Julien Crittendon and Kaleb Cook showed the depth the Lakers have on their roster as they combined for 26 points as well. In seemingly typical Oswego State fashion, the team got on the board first and took off amassing a lead of 26 points by halftime and a 39 point lead late in the second half.

One of the biggest stories of the night was the home support for the Lakers. An attendance of 688 people witnessed an all-time performance from their team. With chants and celebrations ringing through Laker Hall, the fans could not get enough of their team. Sparks spoke on how the crowd energized the team and what it meant to them to see their peers cheer them on.

“Definitely seeing the crowd out there gives us more confidence to go out there and just play basketball and do what we got to do and get a win … our energy on the bench definitely helped, so it’s all we need.”

Despite the monstrous win, Leone had nothing but praise for his adversaries. Citing how so much has changed within the New Paltz basketball program, it is impossible not to give them some credit.

“They’re a good team, the margin of victory didn’t really show that tonight as much but we have a lot of respect for their program,” Leone said. “Where they were about four or five years ago and where they are now is exponentially different. Tonight’s score wasn’t indicative of the type of year that they’ve had, so this was a really good win tonight, it wasn’t about them not playing well I think it was more about our guys playing very very well.”

As Leone looked ahead to his squad’s next matchup against SUNY Oneonta, he gave them credit as well, highlighting what the team does best. However, he also revealed how he planned to unravel his opponents tactics.

“Oneonta will be much more physical, you’ll see them walk in the door tomorrow and they look like football players … but where I do think we have an advantage is we’re quicker than a lot of these teams,” Leone said.

The following day the football-esc Oneonta players made their way into the Max Ziel Gymnasium, which was again packed to the brim with Lakers fans, with the intention of upsetting the tournament favorite. Unfortunately for the Red Dragons, Oswego State did what they do best by getting out to an early lead and not letting go. The Lakers offense blitzed the Red Dragons early on, securing a 19 point lead by halftime. Leone spoke about how they were able to dismantle the Oneonta offense that had been electric the night before.

“Statistically you look, they played, I think four guys 37 minutes or more yesterday and then the fifth starter played 28 minutes, so one of the things we wanted to do today was expose their lack of depth,” Leone said. “We did that defensively by pressuring up on the ball to make them have to handle the ball versus pressure because that could strategically make them fatigued and then on offense we wanted to really drive it at them and make them have to guard hard drives to the basket.”

The three standout starters from the previous night, Sparks, Green and Achille all performed again with each player reaching double digits for points in the outing. Crittendon, again from the bench, added 10 of his own to really emphasize the strength of the Lakers arsenal.

The second half was much more even than the first with the Lakers only outscoring the Red Dragons by two points but it was plenty enough to hold on for the victory. The Oswego State men’s basketball team had won the SUNYAC Championship by a score of 81-60 and had punched a ticket to the NCAA Div. III National Championship.

As the final horn sounded, the Lakers embraced each other in celebration as they were serenaded by the sound of cheers that erupted from the bleachers. Shortly after, Oswego State’s Sparks, Achille, Crittendon and Green were announced to the All-Tournament Team alongside SUNY Oneonta’s Trombley and SUNY Brockport’s Wallace. Then came time for the team to cut down the net to which Leone climbed the ladder to cut the last string. As he did so he proudly threw up the number five with his hands, as he put his stamp on his fifth SUNYAC title. When asked about where he ranks this Lakers team on the list of his SUNYAC championship squads, Leone could only defer, claiming they’re all incredible but not forgetting to praise his players.

“I think it’s important you don’t try to rank the teams that you coach, it just means I’m getting a little older probably, but they all have individually their own special place,” Leone said. “It’s been a great group these guys these guys are intrinsically motivated it’s been a very cooperative method of learning and getting better every day, they listen to us as coaches, we listen to them, these type of teams don’t come along very often so trying to enjoy as much of it as we can while still having a work-win like approach.”

He then accidentally let the net fall to the ground for which he was met with sarcastic groans and laughs from his players and staff until it was eventually returned to him on the ladder so he could raise it above his head, as he revived the cheers from the crowd.

Leone re-emphasized his happiness for his players when asked about how he felt after the game. He cited the struggles this team had to endure with COVID and how he couldn’t have asked for a better return.

“Really happy for the players, this is a long journey, especially with last year, missing out on our season,” Leone said. “This was a special thing because at the beginning of the year we made a pact as a team that we were going to enjoy this regardless of the outcome, and then to have the team play the way it did all the way through the conference season, I think the thing that’s applicable here is the way we played throughout the year, this wasn’t a one weekend thing.”

When asked what the title meant to him, Christian Simmons, who was added to the Lakers squad part way through the season, had nothing but love for the team that embraced him.

“I’m just excited, words can’t really describe because, especially for me, these guys welcomed me into their family mid-year … they welcomed me in, worked hard every day, they just took me in as a family member,” Simmons said. “It’s just a great feeling because these guys are my family and I’ve only been here a month or so. I truly love it.”

Brendan Mulson, who surpassed the 1,000 points mark for his college career this season, echoed Simmons’ happiness. As a transfer himself, Mulson dreamed of getting his hands on a championship and now is excited for the road ahead.

“I can’t wait to keep this thing going, just like Christian said, we’ve become real close over these past few months and this is my first time being a transfer,” Mulson said. “I spent four years at a school so for coach Leone to take me in like this and give me the minutes I’ve been playing and the role on the team, I’m really excited about that and I just can’t express how happy I am right now.”

SUNYAC All-Tournament MVP Sparks was a bit more stoic in how he felt about the game and his award. The star has his eyes set on the future with a trip to the national championships starting the following weekend.

“It doesn’t really bother me much, I’m thinking about the national tournament,” Sparks said. “We got more games to play, we got to get the job done.”

Monday afternoon the Lakers squad learned their fate as they missed out on a chance to host a first round game in the Max Ziel Gymnasium in front of their fans. When asked, Leone wasn’t overly concerned about the bracket and is instead focussing on meeting the expectations the team has on them.

“We’re just happy to be in the tournament,” Leone said. “Obviously we’ve had some success in the tournament before, so the level of expectation is different now than what it’s been in the past because we’ve been in the sweet 16 twice so now the way that we want it is we want there to be an expectation, that we should expect to play well and advance.”

Instead  of hosting, the team will pack their bags and travel to Swarthmore College just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to take on Hood University in their opening round matchup. Leone and his team will take the week to study their opponent and practice so that they are at their peak come March 4.

William Rogers | The Oswegonian