Onondaga Community College defeats Broome CC to keep MSAC regular season title hopes alive

Lazers will host Jefferson CC on Saturday in regular season finale.

SYRACUSE, NY. – February 10, 2011 – The Onondaga Community College men’s basketball team defeated Broome Community College, 81-76, last night to move into sole possession of 2nd place in the Mid-State Athletic Conference. The Lazers stayed alive for their quest to secure the conference regular season championship and host the conference tournament on February 19 & 20. The Lazers, 7-3 in conference, currently trail MSAC leader Finger Lakes Community College by one game with two MSAC games remaining for each school. Onondaga’s win over Broome also avenged a 101-77 loss to the Hornets in Binghamton on January 15, and raised the Lazers’ overall record to 18-8 on the season.

With Broome leading, 10-7, early in the first half last night, Andrew Lucio (Solvay) connected on 4 straight three-point field goals to give Onondaga a 19-10 lead, a lead that they would never relinquish. The Lazers extended their advantage to 10 at halftime and as much as 20 in the second half. Onondaga led, 79-61, with 2:21 to go, before Broome closed the game on a 15-2 run to account for the final margin. Heath Stone (Chittenango) led the Onondaga attack with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Lucio added 14 points and 10 assists, while Drew Nixon (Baldwinsville C.W. Baker) scored 10 points and pulled down a team best 10 rebounds. The Lazers shot 50.8% from the floor for the game, compared to only 40.0% for the Hornets. Broome owned a 47-38 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over 18 times, compared to 20 for Onondaga.

The Lazers will close out the home portion of the 2010-2011 regular season with a MSAC contest against Jefferson Community College on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm. That game will mark the final home appearance for second year Lazers Stone, Lucio, Jake Johnson (Tully) and Zach Ryan (Liverpool).