The Oswego State men's basketball team went on the road to defeat host Geneseo 76-64 on Tuesday evening. With the victory, Oswego improves to 16-8 on the year and, more importantly, 12-5 in the league. Oswego is still in second in the SUNYAC standings, a half-game behind Plattsburgh, who defeated Potsdam on Tuesday night. By defeating the Knights, however, the Lakers created separation between them and Geneseo, which is currently tied with Buffalo State in third with 10-6 marks.
Geneseo owned leads in the early moments of each half, but neither lasted, as Oswego quickly grasped the advantage and held it for a majority of the contest. The Lakers led by as many as 14 in the game, and once it gained a double-digit advantage with 10:02 remaining in the contest, the Knights never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
As a team, Oswego was hot from the field, shooting exactly 50.0% (27-for-54) from the floor. That statistic included a better than 40.0% night from distance, going 10-for-23 (43.5%) from beyond the arc. Oswego took advantage of its free opportunities as well, hitting from the charity stripe at an 80.0% (12-for-15) clip.
The Laker bench was a crucial in the victory, outscoring the Knights' bench 26-10 in the game. Those came mostly from junior Alex Rawa, who tallied 15 points on the night, including 4-for-7 from 3-point land.
Oswego was paced by Brian Sortino on offense, cashing in 23 points on 9-for-15 ( ) shooting. The sophomore also collected the Lakers' second-most rebounds with five, trailing only Mark Candelario's team-best nine boards.
Also helping with the scoring load was Walter Sampson, who went for 18 points on near perfect shooting. The junior made each of his six free-throws and all but one of his seven field-goal attempts.
Oswego will wrap up its regular season at 5:30 p.m. on Friday when it hosts Cortland. That contest will represent the Lakers' Senior Night, which will honor lone senior Rashawn Powell prior to tip-off.
