OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men's basketball team was defeated by Clarkson in a tight 60-54 contest on Tuesday evening at Max Ziel Gymnasium. With the loss, Oswego moves to 2-2 while the Golden Knights remain unbeaten at 5-0.

In the first half, neither team was able to muster any formidable lead with 11 lead changes taking place. Oswego managed to answer back every time Clarkson made a shot, with the team's first eight points coming from jumpers. With Clarkson up 15-13 in the early goings, center Mark Candelario would put the Lakers back on track with five-straight points to give Oswego an 18-15 lead by 7:41.

Although the Lakers would relinquish that lead, sophomore Brian Sortino took matters into his own hands. The 6-foot-2 guard scorched the Golden Knights defense for eight-straight points to give the guard 10 first-half points and a Laker 26-25 lead heading into the break.

Clarkson started the second half on an 8-2 run over the first 4:11 forcing Oswego to play from behind for much of the second half. Junior Walter Sampson completed the and-1 at the 12:03 mark to put Oswego back within three points at 38-35. The Binghamton native would finish the evening with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting.

The Lakers would retaliate twice late in the matchup, as Sortino capped an eight-point comeback with his layup to tie the contest at 43-43. Fellow classmate Matt Crockett's layup and 3-pointer with just minutes left in the game knotted the game at 52-52. Crockett finished the night's matchup with a season-high 10 points, but late free-throws from Clarkson halted the comeback.

Individually, Sortino led the Lakers with 15 points with forward Rashawn Powell coming just short of a double-double with nine points while corralling a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Lakers will return to the court at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5 when they host Fredonia to open the 2014-15 conference slate.