The Oswego State men`s basketball team (17-9) completed the hard task of beating a team three times in one season, taking down Cortland (14-12) 69-57 in the First Round of the SUNYAC Championship at Max Ziel Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Oswego has beat the Red Dragons three times since Feb. 8, including two wins in the past four days.
With the win, the Lakers advance to the semifinals of the tournament and will face the No. 1-seeded Brockport Golden Eagles at 8 p.m. on Friday night.
Oswego came out of the break with a one-point edge over the Red Dragons and never looked back, building that lead to as many as 17.
In the first half, Kyle Covley paced the Lakers early, scoring all of his opening period 10 points in the game's first 9:24. Covley hit two jumpers and two 3-pointers, shooting 4-for-5 in the period. The sophomore's first trey gave the Lakers an early 10-7 lead over Cortland at 15:32.
That would represent Oswego's last lead for most of the first stanza until Dan Ross' layup off a steal at 1:44 regained a Laker advantage, 34-33, that would hold into the break. Cortland's largest lead in the first was seven with 7:07 to play but the Lakers finished the half on a 14-6 run to recapture the edge.
Ross led the Lakers on the night with 24 points, including several traditional 3-point plays which he capitalized on by going a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. The senior was also efficient from the field, shooting 57.1% (8-for-14).
Keith Tyson finished with Oswego's second-most point total, tallying 15 points on 7-for-9 (77.8%) from the floor. Covley added another bucket in the second half to bring his game total to 12 points.
Rashawn Powell owned the glass with nine rebounds while also tying for a team-high with four steals. Ross was the other Laker that took four possessions from the Red Dragons.
As a team, the Lakers shot 15-for-17 (88.2%) from the free-throw line and 24-for-51 (47.1%) from the field.
