The Oswego State men's basketball team won its fourth-straight game convincingly 98-69 over visiting New Paltz on Saturday afternoon in Max Ziel Gymnasium. With the victory, the Lakers are now 9-3 overall and 5-1 in SUNYAC action while the Hawks drop to 1-10, 0-6.
Oswego never trailed in the contest and was only tied with New Paltz twice – at the opening tip and at 4-4, a little more than two minutes into regulation. Despite growing its advantage to as many as 17 points in the first half, the Hawks were able to cut the Laker lead to nine points at the halftime break. That trend would be nixed by Oswego in the second half, as it pushed its margin to as many as 32 in the final stanza. At the final horn, Oswego outscored the Hawks by 20 in the second half and 29 for the game.
In all, 11 Lakers scored on the afternoon, paced by Brian Sortino's game-high 20 points. The senior shot 7-for-1 (63.6%) from the field and dished out a contest-most six assists to go along with three defensive boards. Four of Sortino's teammates scored in double-figures, with the next most going to Keith Tyson with 17. Tyson also posted a team-high eight rebounds in a balanced effort, grabbing four off both the offensive and defensive glass. Jamir Ferebee and Brandan Gartland each recorded 12-point outings while Ian Schupp with the other Laker in double-figures with 11.
Helping Tyson on the glass were Tyler Pierre and Vic Clervil, each with five rebounds, and the trio of Gartland, Sortino and Mykelle Krecko with three apiece.
As a team, Oswego held a 37-29 advantage on the boards, a positive margin of 19 in bench points, an eight-point spread in second-chance points (13-5) and committed six-less turnovers than the Hawks.
The Lakers will now recoup and prepare on Sunday and Monday for a 6 p.m. tip-off on Tuesday when they host St. Lawrence University.
