The Oswego State men's basketball team was undone by a second-half New Paltz run to fall 83-75 to the Hawks on Tuesday night in Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego's loss drops its season mark to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in SUNYAC competition.
Oswego trailed by three, 31-28, at the half and kept the contest close in the opening moments of the second period. Rashawn Powell hit a layup with 14:23 showing on the clock to make the score 45-41 in favor of the Hawks. The next 4:01 proved to be the game-changer, however, with New Paltz completing a 17-3 spurt.
During the span, Oswego was unable to make a field goal, scoring all three points from the charity stripe. The Hawks shot 7-for-10 over the four minute run, including two 3-pointers. At the end of the damage, the Hawks held its largest margin with an 18-point advantage at 62-44.
Oswego would not go down without a fight, scrapping and clawing over the game's final 10 minutes, cutting the lead all the way to just four points. Elijah McLaurin tipped in a basket with 19 seconds remaining to make the score 79-75. New Paltz was able to make its final four free throws to secure the victory and stop the comeback.
Brian Sortino had an outstanding second half while trying to pull the Lakers back into the game. The freshman finished with a career-high 31 points, scoring 27 of those in the second period. His tally in the second stanza represented more than half of Oswego's point total in the period.
Powell continued his double-double dominance, making it the fourth time in the last five games that he has reached the feat. The junior Oswego's second-most points with 14 and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. He was 7-for-12 (58.2%) from the field.
Also finishing with double-digit points for the Lakers was Kyle Covley, who amounted 11 with 3-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
Oswego will return to action at 8 p.m. on Friday at The College at Brockport.
