The Oswego State men's basketball team outscored Geneseo 14-5 in overtime as the Lakers posted an 87-78 win over visiting Geneseo in the opening round of the SUNY Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday, February 22nd at Laker Hall.
The third-seeded Lakers, which set a new school record for most wins in a season with 21, move on to face fourth-seeded Cortland in the SUNYAC semifinals, which are set for 6 p.m. on Friday, February 25th at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Oswego State (21-5) trailed the sixth-seeded Blue Knights (12-14) 44-36 at the break and battled back to take the lead at 55-54 on a lay up by Mat Burridge (Hannibal).
Geneseo, however, went on a 16-8 run to go up 70-63 with 3:16 remaining in regulation. The Lakers trimmed the margin to four on a 3-pointer by Nicholas Perioli (Liverpool). After a bucket by the Blue Knights, Ben Oliver (Batavia) hit from behind the 3-point arc making it a 72-69 game. Oliver later hit two free throws to make it a 72-71 game and with 39 seconds remaining Dave Ponza (Solvay) hit a short jump hook from in the lane putting the hosts in front 73-72.
The Lakers received a break when Geneseo tied the game from the line with nine seconds remaining, but the visitors were called for a lane violation on the second shot, setting up the extra session.
Oswego State dominated the extra session going on a 13-2 run to advance to the conference semis.
The Lakers excelled from the charity stripe connecting on 24-of-27 from the line.
Ponza led the Lakers with 21 points with Perioli adding 19. Ahmad Mims (North Syracuse) chipped in with 16 points, while Burridge had 14 and Oliver 11.
For Geneseo, Joe Zera (Buffalo) led all scorers with 26 points and Greg Spears (Olean) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds