Write a comment
The Oswego State men's basketball team celebrated Senior Night with a 75-67 win over visiting Geneseo on Tuesday in Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego extended its win-streak to six with the victory and hold a 9-1 record in its last 10 contests. On the season, the Lakers are now 18-6 overall and 11-6 in SUNYAC action. The Knights fall to 16-7 on the year and 10-6 in the league.
Over the first 26 minutes and change, Oswego and Geneseo played relatively even basketball, with several lead changes and ties. Geneseo possessed a 30-29 edge at the break and grew its lead to six less than two minutes into the second half.
That's when the Lakers stole control of the game, cutting the deficit to force ties at 39 and 42 apiece. Once tied at 42-42, Oswego rattled off a 9-0 run to gain a sizable advantage but it would not stop there. The Lakers pushed its lead to as many as 16 points over a 28-9 stretch that lasted 10:18. Geneseo tried to force a comeback but were never able to get the margin closer than seven over the final four minutes.
Oswego was guided by a pair of career-highs in the scoring column. Keith Tyson led all scorers on the night with 23 points, breaking his previous career-mark of 20 points, set on Jan. 30 in a win over Oneonta at home. Following his teammate's way, Demetrius Mitchell also recorded a new career-best, notching 13 points, his second double-figure performance of the season.
Seniors Kyle Covley (9), Alex Rawa (12) and Mark Candelario (4) combined for 25 points on the night, with Candelario collecting a team-high nine boards.
Despite a 12-game streak of 10 points or more coming to an end, Brian Sortino was able to chip in nine points while tying a season-high seven assists for the second-straight game. The junior also gathered five rebounds, as did Rawa and Tyson.
As a team, Oswego outrebounded Geneseo by seven (37-30) and was extremely careful with possession, turning the ball over a season-low four times. That total will reduce the squad's turnovers per game, which heading into Tuesday was 9.7, the fifth-best average in all of Division III. The Lakers are also eighth nationally in fewest turnovers.
Oswego also played aggressively on defense, forcing 10 turnovers which directly resulted in 16 points.
The Lakers will wrap regular season play at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night at Cortland.
