The Oswego State men's basketball team played conference-foe Cortland tough in a 56-47 loss on Friday afternoon's Senior Night at Max Ziel Gymnasium. With the loss, Oswego moves to 16-9 overall and a 12-6 SUNYAC record while Cortland goes to 17-8 overall and 10-8 in the conference.
Fittingly, senior Rashawn Powell scored the first Laker basket on an easy transition layup to get Senior Night underway. Despite some tough Cortland defense in the early goings, Powell still managed to score seven of the team's first 10 points. The 6-foot-4 forward hit two fade-away jump shots – four of his 11 first-half points - at the top of the key to give the Lakers a 28-26 lead heading into the locker room.
In the second half, the Lakers came out firing with Walter Sampson's mid-range jump shot. Fellow guard Brian Sortino added fuel to the fire, as his play sparked an eventual seven-point lead over the Red Dragons. The Fairport native paced the Lakers offense all afternoon, totaling a game-high 18 points on an efficient 7-of-12 (58.3%) shooting from the field.
An 8-3 Cortland run with just minutes left in regulation capped the contest, as Oswego was unable to form any sort of comeback.
Despite the loss, the Lakers honored senior Rashawn Powell in his final regular season game at Oswego. Powell finished the night with 11 points and six rebounds, tying fellow forward Dustin Pond for most Laker corrals off the glass.
The Lakers will return to action next week with playoffs set to begin. Even with the recent loss, Oswego is still in the running for a first-round bye in SUNYAC playoffs, depending on the results of the Buffalo State and Geneseo games on Saturday.
