OSWEGO, N.Y. – Both the Oswego State men's and women's basketball teams are looking to repeat as champions in the Max Ziel Tournament this weekend, as the Laker units begin their regular seasons on the familiar Oswego hardwood on Friday.
For the women, they're coming off back-to-back Max Ziel Tournament Titles. Last year, the Lakers erased a 16-point deficit with 18:18 left in the contest to defeat Mount St. Vincent by six points in the championship game. Two years ago, Oswego State won by double-digits in both games to earn the title.
The men's team re-captured the championship in 2011-12, when captain
Sean Michele (Gr., East Rochester, N.Y.) buried a three-pointer as time expired to top Wells, 58-55. The win was the second in a streak of nine consecutive victories for the Lakers, a streak that was ended by Division I's University of Texas-Pan American. In 2010-11, the Lakers were edged by Keystone College, a team that finished 21-6, in the Max Ziel Tournament Championship.
Both Oswego State squads have played scrimmages and exhibitions, but this will be the first real taste of regular season action. On the men's side, the Lakers will host D'Youville at 8 p.m. on Friday, while Medgar Evers and Morrisville will play at 4 p.m. for a spot in the championship game.
Senior captain
Alex Mirabito (Oneonta, N.Y.) says the Lakers defense will have to be up to the challenges come Friday and Saturday.
“Our coach said that D'Youville is a very offensive-minded team,” Mirabito said. “They like to get the game going as fast-paced as they can. We know Medgar Evers is good. They beat us last year, and they were only one of four teams to beat us. We would like to get revenge on them. Morrisville has a good basketball program.”
D'Youville finished last season in the top 25 nationally in scoring, steals and blocked shots. However, the Spartans finished 10-16, despite scoring over 100 points four times and finishing above 90 points on 10 occasions. D'Youville also lost its leading scorer from last season, Raysean Johnson, who averaged 23.1 points per game.
Last year, Medgar Evers topped the Lakers 73-68 during Oswego State's best season in program history, one in which the Lakers won a NCAA Tournament game. However, this year the Cougars will travel to Oswego to play, as last year's game was on the Cougars' home court.
The Cougars' opponent, Morrisville, is the other team in the tournament who qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season. The Mustangs return nine players from a team that finished 19-8 and won a conference championship last season.
“The thing with college basketball is that, every year, the teams are so different,” Mirabito said. “You could have a great team one year and then a down team the next year. Until the games start, it's hard to really know. You have to be ready to face anyone.”
Mirabito says his team is hoping to win the tournament, but that it's not all about victories.
“The focal point of the team is drilling home daily improvement,” Mirabito said. “Obviously we want to win games, but the bottom line is we want to be good in February. This is our home tournament and we take pride in defending our home court. We wouldn't expect anything less than to win it.”
On the women's side, the Lakers will host SUNYIT, Cobleskill and D'Youville. At 2 p.m. on Friday, Cobleskill and D'Youville will face off. The Lakers beat these two teams to capture the 2010 Max Ziel crown. Cobleskill finished 14-12 last year with a trip to its conference tournament at the end of the season. However, they were ousted by Oswego State, 72-45, early in the year. D'Youville finished 4-21 in 2011-12, but the Spartans have a young roster which features only freshmen (7) and sophomores (3).
Senior captain
Taryn Smith (Ontario, N.Y.) has a good idea of what her upcoming opponents have to offer.
“Last year, we played Cobleskill and beat them pretty handily,” Smith said. “D'Youville has a pretty small roster in terms of number of girls and they don't have any big girls like we saw last week (against Queen's). SUNYIT has some good players. They made their conference championship last year.”
At 6 p.m. on Friday, the Lakers will debut their new roster against the SUNYIT Wildcats, who finished 22-5 last season. The Wildcats fell to Keuka in their conference championship by a mere three points. Oswego State last played the Wildcats on Feb. 20, 2008, when the Lakers overcame a first-half deficit to win 82-72 in overtime.
Smith has lofty goals for her team.
“As a team, we're looking to see how far we can get in the (SUNYAC) Tournament,” Smith said. “I think this year we have a lot of experience and intelligence on the team. We only have one freshman. Our focal point has always been defense. Good defense leads to go a good offense.“
Smith has the same mindset as Mirabito, saying her team is fully capable of winning the Max Ziel Tournament.
“Definitely, we can win,” Smith said. “Having these exhibition games under our belt is huge. Everyone's just excited to get on the court and play for real. Everyone's ready to go.”
Max Ziel Men's Tournament Page
Max Ziel Women's Tournament Page
