The Oswego State men's basketball team used nine different scorers to push past Potsdam 81-72 on Saturday afternoon in Max Ziel Gymnasium. With the victory, the Lakers improve to 9-4 overall and 2-4 in the SUNYAC while the Bears drop to 1-12, 1-5.
Junior Brian Sortino was brilliant in the second half, scoring 24 of his 30 points in the final 20 minutes. It is the second time the guard has posted a 30-spot this season, aided by his 11-for-18 (61.1%) performance from the field. The Fairport, N.Y. native also went 6-for-7 from the charity stripe, distributed three assists and grabbed two boards.
Sortino was helped by Alex Rawa's first-career double-double, going for 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. The senior was 5-for-9 from beyond the arc, including three-straight treys in a span of 1:06 in the early portion of the contest. All three came on assists from Walter Sampson, who finished with a game-high six helpers.
Also contributing on the afternoon were Keith Tyson and Dustin Pond. Both collected six rebounds while Tyson scored eight and Pond chipped in six.
In a back-and-forth game, Potsdam took a 40-37 edge into the locker room at halftime. Oswego used an 8-1 run in the opening moments of the second stanza to grab control of the game, capped by a Rawa 3-pointer at 12:56. The Lakers closed out the rest of the game with a lead, fighting off several Bear efforts to close the margin.
As a team, Oswego posted its most points in a single game in 2015-16, shooting 47.5% (28-59) from the field, 40.0% (10-for-25) from the 3-point line and 75.0% (15-for-20) from the free-throw line. The Lakers owned the glass to the tune of an 11-board advantage over Potsdam (41-30).
Oswego will continue in conference action at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday when it travels to Brockport to avenge Tuesday's overtime loss to the Golden Eagles at home.
