It was a successful weekend on the road for the Oswego State Lakers men’s basketball team.
Victories in their first- and second-round games send the Lakers on to play Marietta College of Ohio in Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division 3 Men’s Basketball Tournament. Marietta is the second-ranked team in the most recent D3hoops.com poll.
IHeartOswego.com’s Mark McManus spoke to Lakers head coach Jason Leone on Monday. He said that the Lakers got off to a slow start in their first-round game against Hood College from Maryland. “We got down early. Hood’s offense was really hard for our guys to practice,” Leone said. “Once we settled in, we went on an 18-2 run to close out the first half.” The Lakers led the rest of the way, going up by as many as 16 points in the second half. “Hope did make a comeback,” Leone said. “They got within 7, but we held them there the rest of the way. Friday’s final score was Oswego State 82 - Hope College 73. Jamal Achille had a double-double for the Lakers, with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Devon Green had 19 points.
Oswego State’s second-round opponent was Keene State from New Hampshire, who had upset host and higher seed Swarthmore College in Friday’s other first-round game. “Keene State was a better team than we had seen on Friday,” Coach Leone said. “Fortunately , we got out ahead early in the game, and we never looked back.” Jamal Achille led the Lakers with his second 20-point game of the tournament, with another 17 from point guard Ahkee Anderson. “Anderson played extremely well, especially in the second half” said Coach Leone. The final score was Oswego State 84 - Keene State 63.
“Marietta is a very good team,” Coach Leone said. “They were the team who eliminated us in the Sweet 16 in 2019.” However, he thinks that his Lakers have a good chance to move on in the tournament. “We’re going to keep it simple. We’ll have 3 good practices before we head to Ohio on Wednesday. We’ll have a simplistic game plan, and play aggressive and loose. That’s when this team is at its best.”
“We have strong senior leadership on this team, and these guys play well together,” Leone said. “We need to avoid those 3 or 4 missteps that can affect the outcome of a game. We need to make our shots, and get the job done.”
The third-round games in the Lakers’ region are being hosted by their opponent, the Marietta College Pioneers at 7:00 pm at Ban Johnson Arena in Marietta, Ohio. A live stream of the game will be available on the University’s athletics website, OswegoLakers.com If the Lakers are victorious on Friday, they would face the winner of the other third round game in Marietta, Christopher Newport (VA) vs. Stockton University (NJ).
