The Oswego State men’s basketball team traveled to the SUNY Canton Kangaroos in a SUNYAC playoff matchup. The Lakers won 103-97 in overtime to move to 18-3 overall and 12-2 in the SUNYAC while moving the Kangaroos to 4-17 overall and 3-11 in the SUNYAC.

Ranked No. 2 in the SUNYAC, the Lakers started the game hot as Arthur Foster won the opening tip-off and then drove down the alley to get the first lay-up. The No. 8 Kangaroos quickly responded and Byron Streb hit a quick three-pointer to take the lead. Foster responded by driving to the net for a lay-up, then got fouled, but made the free throw. The Lakers were then up by two points.

With 16 minutes left in the half, Streb hit another lay-up, putting the Kangaroos to an early lead over the Lakers, 12-6. In the next play for the Lakers, Steven Bradley drained a three-pointer to cut the Lakers point deficit to three. Halfway through the first half the Kangaroos took their biggest lead of the game, 25-16, with Sean Quinn hitting a three.

The Lakers were not going anywhere though, as they slowly stopped fast breaks and started chipping back, bringing the game to a tie at 33 points each with four minutes, 19 seconds left in the half. The Lakers started to find their rhythm late in the half, with three fouls coming from the Kangaroos to give Deacon Judd, Foster and Chris Whyte-Luciano two free throws each to end the half and to gain their largest score margin of the game, 46-41 Lakers.

During the start of the second half, the Kangaroos came out swinging with a quick lay-up, but Judd responded with a jumper in the paint. The back-and-forth battle did not stop there, as Lateef Johnson Jr. put up another two points for the Kangaroos. With 15 minutes left in the second half, Kangaroos’ Edram Gbekou drained a three-pointer to take their first lead of the half, 58-55, then a slam dunk from Johnson Jr. and a lay-up from Jahdeuir Reese put the Kangaroos up seven over the Lakers.

A quick three-pointer from Patrick Emling and two three-pointers from Jayson McGhee put the Lakers one point over the Kangaroos. As the battle continued, the Lakers took their biggest lead of the half with six minutes and 30 seconds left. With five minutes left, the Lakers were still up by seven, but the Kangaroos were unstoppable.

With seven seconds left in the game, McGhee hit a free throw to go up by three. This did not stop the Kangaroos, though, as Jordan Sidle sprinted down the court and got the shot off right before the buzzer to drain the game-tying three.

As overtime started, the Kangaroos struck first, going up two, but Bradley struck back, hitting a jumper to tie the game at 90. Then a foul by Canton’s Gbekou put Bradley on the line, who made both free throws. As the clock ticked down, the Kangaroos got into foul trouble, giving up seven points on free throws, which helped the Lakers win 103-97, continuing their six-game win streak.