The No. 4 Oswego State men's basketball team downed the top-seeded Plattsburgh Cardinals 81-74 in Memorial Hall Friday evening, earning the Lakers a spot in the SUNYAC Championship final for the second-straight year. It is also the second-consecutive season that Oswego has upset No. 1 Plattsburgh, with last year's coming in the title game. The Lakers are now 20-7 on the year while the Cardinals dip to 21-5.
Oswego came out of the gates hot, creating a quick 11-3 run in the first four minutes. The Cardinals did not back down though, tying it up in the following minutes. The rest of the first was an exchange of blows as the teams went back-and-forth with neither able to grab more than a five point edge. Mykelle Krecko played an integral part in keeping the Cardinal shots out of the basket, recording six rejections in 15 minutes of play.
With a one-point lead going into the second half, Oswego expanded on it quickly with a quick five-point Alex Rawa spurt. The Lakers kept that advantage steady through the first seven minutes. Plattsburgh fought back to gain a lead for only a few moments before Brian Sortino turned it up on offense. Over the course of the last 8:37, the Fairport, N.Y. native scored 16 of his 29 points and led the Lakers to victory.
Sortino led the team in scoring on the night, but was helped by Kyle Covley (12), Demetrius Mitchell (10) and Dustin Pond (10) who all scored in double-figures.
On defense Krecko was key, turning in the aforementioned swats and collecting a game-high 10 rebounds. Keith Tyson, Alex Rawa and Mitchell all pitched in five rebounds apiece.
Men's basketball will now face the No. 2 Cortland Red Dragons for the conference title. Tip-off will be at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Plattsburgh's Memorial Hall.
