The Oswego State men's basketball team fought hard to the final whistle, eventually succumbing to Plattsburgh 66-59 in a battle of the SUNYACs top two teams at home on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Lakers are now 15-8 overall and 11-5 in league action while the Cardinals improve to 16-6, 11-4.
Brian Sortino led all scorers with 25 points, including each of the Lakers' final 13 points over the last 6:50, keeping Oswego in the contest down the stretch. The sophomore outscored the Plattsburgh squad 13-12 during that span, nearly completing a Laker comeback after trailing by 16 points with 13:59 to play.
Senior Rashawn Powell chipped in 11 points to go along with his team-high six rebounds and team-best three steals. Teammates Dustin Pond and Walter Sampson each finished with nine points to aid in the effort.
All eight Lakers who saw time in the game recorded at least two rebounds. The Lakers forced 17 turnovers in the game while only giving up 10. Those 17 turnovers resulted in 14 points for Oswego.
Plattsburgh now holds a half-game lead over Oswego in the loss column for the top spot in the conference standings. Oswego has two games left on the schedule, starting with a 5:30 p.m. contest at Geneseo on Tuesday night.
