Freshman forward
Chad Burridge (Hannibal) posted a "double-double" with game highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds while registering six blocks, and senior guard
Tommy Downing (Staten Island/Curtis) added 19 points and a season and career-high tying ten assists, but Buffalo State overcame a 14-point deficit by going on a 26-9 run in the final nine minutes of the game to come away with a 90-83 victory in a key SUNYAC men's basketball contest on Friday, February 20 at Max Ziel Gymnasium.
The game marked the final regular-season contest for seniors Downing and Kyle Reuter (Mexico), who both are among the top ten among the all-time career scorers at Oswego. Downing shot 5-for-16 from the field, including 3-for-8 from three-point range, and hit five of six free throws in playing 36 minutes. Reuter, who was in foul trouble for most of the second half with four, finished with eight points.
The Loss puts the Lakers (15-9, 11-5 SUNYAC) in a three-way tie for second place with the Bengals (14-10, 11-5 SUNYAC) and Oneonta State in the conference standings. With all three teams completing their conference schedule, Buffalo State holds the tiebreaker over Oswego by virtue of sweeping the home and home series, while the Lakers hold the advantage over Oneonta by sweeping both games during the season.
Geneseo, which lost at Fredonia on Friday, plays the College of Brockport in its season finale on Saturday night. A win would give the Blue Knights the top seed in next week's SUNYAC playoffs, making Buffalo State, Oswego, and Oneonta, the second, third, and fourth seeds, respectively. A Geneseo loss forces a four-way tie for first place in the standings, giving Buffalo State the top spot in the playoffs as a result of defeating Geneseo in its lone meeting of the year.
Burridge connected on seven of 13 shots from the field, going 2-for-2 from three-point range, and made eight of 11 free throws in 35 minutes played. He scored 16 points in the second half before fouling out with 2:32 to play in the game, when the Lakers held a 83-78 lead.
The Bengals tied the score with 2:08 remaining on a layup by Antonio Speed and took the lead to stay 23 seconds later on a steal and a layup by Jamar Gray. Speed and Gray were one of three starters and four players overall to score in double digits, each scoring 14 points.
Glenroy Carr came off of the bench to lead Buffalo State with 21 points, 12 of them coming in the first half as the Bengals led for most of the opening half, holding its largest lead at six points (25-19) with 8:58 remaining, before Oswego used a 12-5 run to take a 31-30 lead with 7:07 remaining. They would take a 45-43 lead into halftime behind eight points from Burridge, seven points each from Francois and Downing, and six points each from Reuter, sophomore Jamal Lightbourne (Elmsford/Alexander Hamilton) and freshman Conor Monaghan (Brooklyn/Xavier).
The Lakers, who will host a quarterfinal game in the SUNYAC playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Ziel Gym, will have to wait until the final conference games are played on Saturday night in order to determine their opponent.
