UTICA, N.Y. – The Oswego State men’s basketball team had its five-game win streak snapped with a 66-63 loss to Utica College in the title of the Pioneers’ tournament on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Lakers fall to 6-5 on the year while Utica goes to 5-4 overall and 4-0 on its home court.
In truly a tale of two halves, the Pioneers started hot from the field and built a 14-point advantage at the break. Oswego answered with an 11-point spread in the second half, falling just three points short of a brilliant comeback effort. The Lakers had it down to a one-point contest with five seconds to play but a pair of good Pioneer freethrows and a missed half court heave at the buzzer halted the come-from-behind bid.
During the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, Oswego went on a 15-2 run over 4:40 to cut Utica’s lead to just two points at 42-40. The Pioneers rebutted with a 13-2 spurt of their own over just two minutes of play to push the lead back to 13. After hovering around a double-digit lead for the next few minutes, Oswego’s defense stifled Utica, allowing the Pioneers’ final field-goal of the game with 5:17 remaining in regulation. Trailing by 10 at that points, the Lakers out-scored Utica 13-6 down the stretch, but the six made freebies by the Pioneers was enough to seal the game.
Four Lakers scored in double figures on Saturday, paced by Ian Schupp’s 16-point performance. The senior made a superb turnaround in the game, making six of his final 10 shot attempts after starting 0-for-5. He also aided on the defensive front, stealing the ball from Utica a career-high four times.
Just one point back of Schupp was fellow guard Liam Sanborn. Sanborn was near perfect from the field, shooting 6-for-8 from the floor to go along with five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Also in double figures were Josh Ivey (12) and Jamir Ferebee (10).
On the boards, Sanborn was joined by Ivey and Ferebee with five apiece while the squad was led by a seven and six rebound performance from Brandan Gartland and Tyler Pierre, respectively.
Oswego will continue its season in 2018 when it returns to SUNYAC play at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at New Paltz. The Lakers currently own a 3-1 record in league action.
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