The Oswego State men's basketball team erased a 10-point, halftime deficit for a 92-83 win at Buffalo State on Friday night behind senior Jamir Ferebee's 35 points and seven assists. With the win, the Lakers improve to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the SUNYAC while Buffalo State drops to 4-3, 1-2.
The first quarter was hotly contested with neither team leading by more than six points until six minutes left in the half. Buffalo State moved a 30-30 tie to a ten point halftime lead at 47-37 on 58% shooting from the field and 50% from 3-point range.
The teams traded points in the second half until Oswego started to chip away at the Bengal ten-point advantage with 11 minutes left on an 8-2 run to close the lead to four. The gap was still five in favor of the home squad at the 5:29 mark when the Lakers would lock down the Bengals and go on a 15-0 run over the next five minutes to take control of the game.
Senior Josh Ivey had a double-double for the Lakers with 14 points and 16 rebounds while junior Tyler Pierre had 15 points and eight rebounds. It was a new career-high for Ivey on the boards, six more than his previous high that he achieved in the 2017-18 season opener. It is also just the second double-double of the senior's career, with the other also coming in this campaign's first contest.
Senior Louis Avellino and sophomore Brandan Gartland gave the team a good lift off the bench with 10 and eight points, respectively.
Ferebee's 35 points was 11 over his previous career-high of 24 points scored against Clarkson on Nov. 21 earlier this season and was the most scored by an Oswego player this season.
The team is back in action on Saturday as it travels to Fredonia for a 3 p.m. tip-off.
