The Oswego State men's basketball team opened on a 13-0 run and never trailed on its way to a 80-72 win over Oneonta on Saturday afternoon in Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego's victory improves its overall record to 12-5 but, most importantly, pushes its SUNYAC record to .500 (5-5) after starting 1-4. Oneonta drops to 11-6 on the year and 6-4 in league play.
Keith Tyson and Kyle Covley were crucial in the opening minutes of the tilt, scoring all of the Lakers 13 points in the aforementioned span. Tyson started it with a layup followed just 31 seconds later by Covley's traditional 3-point play. Tyson then found his own way to three points, stepping beyond the arc to make it 8-0. His teammate capped the spurt that lasted just 2:45, as Covley drained his own trey followed by a jumper, making it 13-0.
In all, Oswego controlled the entire first half by a handsome margin, leading by double-figures for 15:23 of the first 20 minutes of play. The Lakers led 44-31 at the half and continued to own the game in the second. Oneonta tried to cut the Oswego advantage but never could get closer than six in the second stanza, with the Lakers adding an additional 5:15 to the time with a double-figure margin.
Tyson ended with a career-high 20 points, trailing only Brian Sortino's 23. The junior was also a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown, with those makes being the most in single-game for the Syracuse, N.Y. native. Covley wound up with 14 points while Alex Rawa rounded out Lakers with double-digits in the points column, notching 11.
Rebounding was a team effort as Oswego collected 10 more boards than the Red Dragons. Each Laker that saw court time grabbed at least one carom, paced by Mykelle Krecko's game-high nine. Rawa chipped in eight while Tyson continued to the fill the stat sheet with seven.
Krecko also spurred a Laker defense that held Oneonta to under 40.0% shooting from the field. The junior turned back seven Red Dragon shot attempts, his second game with that block total in the last two weeks. He also added three assists and two steals.
The Lakers will ride their two-game league winning streak into Geneseo for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Tuesday with the Knights.
