OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men's basketball team pulled away from visiting New Paltz midway through the first half en route to a 75-59 victory on Friday night in Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego improves to 11-5 overall with the win and 4-5 in conference play. The Hawks dropped to 2-13 and 1-8 with Friday's loss.
 
Trailing 8-2 early, Oswego drained five-straight 3-pointers to gain an advantage it would never relinquish. Brian Sortino hit the first two of those treys while senior Kyle Covley capped the span with three of his own. In all, the Lakers shot 9-for-18 from distance in the opening half, giving way to an 11-point halftime margin (43-32).
 
Oswego continued to grow its lead in the second stanza, holding as much as a 22-point spread over the Hawks.
 
Covley wound up pacing all scorers in the contest, finishing with a season-high 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field. Also in double figures for the Lakers were Sortino (21) and Alex Rawa (10).
 
On the boards, Oswego was aided by Mark Candelario off the bench. The senior collected a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points and three blocked shots.
 
As a team, the Lakers continued to care for the ball, staying below their 9.7 turnover average – which ranks fourth in Division III – with just eight giveaways to the Hawks. Oswego and New Paltz were even on the glass (37-37) but the Lakers held a 17-6 advantage in points off of turnovers.
 
The Lakers will now face SUNYAC-foe Oneonta at 4 p.m. on Saturday as they look to avenge an early season road loss to the Red Dragons.