Walter Sampson had a near-perfect shooting performance as the Oswego State Lakers defeated the Geneseo Knights, 76-64.
This game was close for all of the first half, with the Lakers taking only a one point lead into the locker room at half time. But Oswego would go on a 22-9 run early in the second half led by Sampson who finished with 18 points on 6-7 from the field, and Brian Sortino who lead all scorers with 23. The Lakers would lead by as much as 14 in the second half.
Junior Alex Rawa tied a career high in scoring with 15 points off the bench, including four shots from downtown, providing a surge for the Lakers.
Oswego's defense held SUNYAC scoring and rebounding leader Gordon Lyons to a below average 18 points and nine rebounds, with only seven of those points coming in the second half.
The Lakers as a unit shot exactly 50 percent (27-54) for the game, including shooting above 40 percent from behind the arc and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
This win evens the season series against Geneseo and was a major confidence boost for a Laker squad coming off a tough loss against rival Plattsburgh. They will look to secure the second seed in the SUNYAC playoffs in their last regular season game against Cortland in Max Ziel Gymnasium Friday at 5:30 p.m.
For Geneseo, this loss slides them to fourth in the SUNYAC standings and will make it tough for the Knights to climb any higher than that. They now face two road games to close out their season, the first coming at Potsdam on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and the second at SUNYAC leading Plattsburgh Saturday at 2 p.m.
