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The Oswego State men's basketball team won in thrilling fashion Tuesday evening, defeating Oneonta 96-92 in double overtime. With the win, the Lakers boost their record to 7-3 on the year and 3-0 in the conference. Oneonta moves to 5-5 (2-1) on the season.
The Lakers trailed early going down 8-2 in the first minutes of the game. The team battled back through the half eventually taking the lead 23-21 at the 8:40, when Mark Candelario kissed a layup off the glass. From then on it was a back-and-forth game, with Oneonta securing the 39-36 halftime lead.
After half, Oswego trailed the Red Dragons for all of the second, finding themselves down by 14 at one point with a little over seven minutes left. The squad locked down on defense though and were able to close in on the Red Dragons, slowly chipping away at the lead. It remained close into the final seconds of the game up until Oneonta's Zach Mager hit two free throws to give the Red Dragons a three point lead with only seven seconds left. The Lakers didn't falter though, finding Sortino for the three to tie it and send the game to overtime.
During the overtime periods, Sortino came alive. The sophomore went 5-5 from the field including hitting a 3-pointer. Candelario was also a major factor for the Lakers in overtime, scoring seven points and collecting five rebounds. As the game came to a close in the second overtime, Head Coach Jason Leone called onElijah McLaurin, who entered the game and went 6-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute.
Candelario ended the game with a double-double in points (19) and rebounds (11). Sortino's 26 points led all scorers. Alex Rawa and Kyle Covley also pitched in, scoring 11 and 12 points, respectively.
Men's basketball will take to the court again at 5:30 p.m. on Friday for an away bout with Cortland.
