Onondaga Community College moves into 1st place tie with pair of Mid-State Conference victories

Shane Williams sets career rebounding mark.

SYRACUSE, NY. – January 20, 2008 – The Onondaga Community College men’s basketball team captured a pair of Mid-State Athletic Conference victories and moved into a 1st place tie in the conference standings in the process. On Thursday, the Lazers defeated Corning Community College in Corning, 74-61, Onondaga’s first win in Corning in 5 years. The Lazers followed that up yesterday with a 100-95 home win over Broome Community College. Onondaga now has a conference mark of 3-1, tied with Finger Lakes Community College. The Lazers are 13-4 overall on the campaign.

The Corning game was not as close as the final score would indicate, as Onondaga shot 70% from the floor in the first half on the way to a 53-32 lead at the break. The Lazers opened the second half on an 11-2 run to extend the lead to 30, early in the second half. With Onondaga still leading by 27, Corning scored the game’s final 14 points to account for the final margin. Zack Thomsen (South New Berlin Unadilla Valley) led the Onondaga attack with 18 points and 5 assists. Shane Williams (Camillus West Genesee) and Pete Byrne (Syracuse Bishop Ludden) also hit double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively, and Williams pulled down a team best 8 rebounds. Kevin Barrett (Syracuse Bishop Ludden) handed out 5 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds. For the game, Onondaga made 28 of 55 shots (51%), while limiting Corning to 23 of 69 (33%). The Lazers held a 43-39 rebounding advantage.

Yesterday against Broome, Onondaga opened the game on a 12-0 run before the Hornets responded, eventually going ahead 30-29. Onondaga took a slim 44-42 lead to the locker room at the half. Broome scored the first 5 points of the second half, but Onondaga responded with a 13-0 run to go back up by 8. The Lazers were able to cling to a small lead most of the second half, but were never able to pull away from the Hornets. Barrett led Onondaga with 26 points and added 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Williams recorded a double double with 20 points and 18 rebounds, and in the process increased his career rebounding total to 490 to become the Lazers’ all-time rebounding leader. He moved past Joe Olsen (Central Square P.V. Moore / Daemen College), who collected 486 rebounds in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Byrne led the Lazers with 7 assists, while Thomsen and Williams handed out 5 assists apiece. Onondaga connected on 39 of 76 field goal attempts (51%), while Broome made only 28 of 71 attempts (39%). The Hornets stayed in the game at the foul line, where they made 31 of 37 free throws, compared to 17 of 26 for Onondaga. The Lazers owned a 52-42 rebounding advantage.

Onondaga returns to action tomorrow with a 3:00 pm Martin Luther King Day non-conference game at North Country Community College. That will be followed by two away conference tilts, at Jefferson Community College Wednesday at 8:00 pm, and at Tompkins Cortland Community College next Saturday at 3:00 pm.