Senior guards Tommy Downing (Staten Island/Curtis) and Kyle Reuter (Mexico) combined to score 58 points, shooting  51.2 percent (21 of 41) from the floor with six 3-pointers,  but host Nazareth College had four of five starters score in double figures to fight off an early Laker first-half lead and late second-half charge to come away with a 104-94 win in a non-conference matchup on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Downing played all 40 minutes for Oswego (5-2), scoring a team-high 30 points on 11 of 20 field goal shooting, connecting on three 3-pointers, making five of eight free throws, and pulling down six rebounds. He also dished out seven assists to go along with three steals and a block. He is only eight points shy of becoming the second player on this year's squad to reach 1,000 career points. In 77 career games played, Downing currently has 992 points.

Reuter, who reached the 1,000-career point mark In the second game of the season, tallied 28 points in 37 minutes of action, shooting 10-for-24 from the floor with three 3-pointers, and making five of six free throws.  Freshman Chad Burridge (Hannibal) registered a double-double with 16 points (8-for-10 free-throw shooting) and 10 rebounds, while contributing two blocks and two steals, while junior Stanley Francois (Valley Cottage/Suffern) pulled down 10 rebounds.

Both teams held leads and forced six ties in the opening six minutes before a three-pointer by Reuter started  a 17-10 Laker run to take a 32-26 lead with 6:35 to play in the opening half. Downing scored nine points in the stretch, followed  by five from Reuter and three free throws from sophomore Jamal Lightbourne (Elmsford/Alexander Hamilton). But Nazareth scored 12 unanswered points as part of a 15-2 run to retake the lead, 41-34 with 2:48 remaining in the half and never trailed for the rest of the game.

The Golden Flyers stretched their lead to as many as 11 points in the second half, holding a 70-59 advantage with 12:29 to play, before Oswego  went on a 15-6 run pulled to within a basket (76-74) with 6:05 remaining, connecting on eight of 10 free throws. But Nazareth used a 10-0 run to stretch its lead to 12 points with 3:57 to play and was never seriously challenged for the rest of the game.

Corey McAdam of Nazareth led all scorers with 31 points, making 14 of 18 free throws, followed by 27 points (11-for 24 shooting from the field) and 16 rebounds from Jeff DeHimer.

The Lakers are off for the holiday and semester break and will resume play on Tuesday, Jan. 6 with an 8 p.m. non-conference home contest against St. Lawrence University at Max Ziel Gymnasium.

BOXSCORE