The Oswego State men`s basketball team took a tough loss for the second-straight day as the Lakers fell short 82-72 in overtime at Plattsburgh. Oswego`s loss drops it to an 8-8 mark in conference play, putting them in a tie with Cortland for fifth place. With just one week left in the regular season, the Lakers and Red Dragons are a game up on Buffalo State for the final two spots in the SUNYAC Championship.
Entering the last week, Oswego will play No. 19 Brockport at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night in its final home game before traveling to Cortland for the season finale on Saturday. The Red Dragons will take on Geneseo, the second place team in conference standings, on Tuesday before the battle with the Lakers on Saturday.
Buffalo States final two games will come on the road for a weekend series, starting with Potsdam on Friday before taking on Plattsburgh Saturday.
Oswego fell behind early against the Cardinals, staring at a 21-9 deficit with 9:01 to play in the first half. The Lakers would turn up the intensity over the period's final nine minutes, outscoring Plattsburgh 18-5 to head into the locker rooms with a 27-26 edge.
The second half would entertain eight lead changes and nine ties as the two squads countered each other's best blows throughout the period. Neither team led by more than five during the stanza as Oswego led by as many as four while Plattsburgh held five points margins twice.
Daniel Ross scored a layup with 37 seconds to play in regulation to give the Lakers a 68-64 lead. The Cardinals answered with a layup of its own just six seconds later and tied the game on two free throws with 16 seconds left. Oswego and Plattsburgh could not break the tie in the final moments and headed to extra time knotted at 68-68.
The Lakers scored the four of the overtime's first six points to hold a 72-70 advantage with 4:15 to play. Oswego fell cold in the final four minutes, however, as it was unable to score the rest of the way, allowing a 12-0 Plattsburgh run to end the contest and stop the comeback effort.
Ross had an outstanding performance, scoring a game- and career-high 28 points, a feat he has achieved three times this season. The senior was 9-for-16 (56.3%) from the field and 9-for-12 (75.0%) from the charity stripe while chipping in four rebounds and four steals.
Missing a double-double by just one rebound was Rashawn Powell, scoring the second-most for the Lakers with 15 points while collecting nine boards. Also in double-figures for Oswego was Keith Tyson, tallying 12 points on 5-for-7 (71.4%) shooting from the floor.
