Solid defensive effort and strong bench play help Onondaga Community College defeat Finger Lakes CC, 78-73

Lazers on the road at Cayuga CC on Saturday.

SYRACUSE, NY. – January 26, 2012 – The Onondaga Community College men’s basketball team returned home last night and came away with a hard fought 78-73 victory over Finger Lakes Community College. The win raised the Lazers’ overall record to 12-10, and their Mid-State Athletic Conference mark to 3-3. Finger Lakes fell to 6-14 overall and 1-5 in conference play.

Finger Lakes scored the game’s first four points and maintained a lead throughout the first half, although it never grew to more than 6 points. When Nick Wicks converted for the Lakers with 3:09 to go in the opening half, Finger Lakes held a 29-25 advantage. Onondaga was able to respond with a three-pointer from Ian Hamm (Liverpool), followed by a Steve Lothridge (East Syracuse-Minoa) layup off of a feed from Hamm, and the Lazers took their first lead of the game, 30-29 at the break.

The second half continued to be very closely contested, as the lead changed hands 6 times. When Kevin Corbin (Cicero-North Syracuse) scored off of a feed from Tyler Wood (Broadalbin-Perth) with 11:32 remaining, the Lazers finally had the lead for good. Onondaga was able to gradually extend the advantage, and when Michael Scott (Chittenango) connected from three-point range, the Lazers held a 68-59 margin with 5:17 remaining. Finger Lakes responded with a 12-4 run of their own, and when Richard De La Cruz converted two free throws, the Lazer advantage was down to a single point, 72-71, with 1:19 to go. Onondaga responded with a backdoor layup by Brandon Seibt (Central Square P.V. Moore) off of a pass from Jesse Gates (Liverpool), but Finger Lakes got the margin back to 1 with a strong inside move from Sean Carbonell. Gates then rebounded a Tom Graf (Jordan-Elbridge) miss, and Jordan Prior (Cortland) converted both ends of a one and one to put the Lazers back up 3. Seibt then rebounded a missed three-pointer by Carbonell and converted both ends of a one and one to seal the win for Onondaga.

Both teams struggled to score throughout the contest, as Onondaga connected on only 37.7% of their field goal attempts, and Finger Lakes only converted 34.9% of theirs. The Lakers held a 56-50 rebounding advantage, but the Lazers helped themselves by only committing a season low 9 turnovers. Onondaga’s depth was a significant factor in the game, as the Lazer bench outscored the Finger Lakes bench, 40-7. Scott led the way for Onondaga with a season best 17 points and 7 rebounds in 16 minutes. Seibt was the only other Lazer in double figures with 10 points. Gates led the Lazers with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Carbonell had a game high 23 points to lead Finger Lakes, with Nic Cesar and Cody Sarkis adding 15 and 14 respectively. Sarkis also pulled down 17 rebounds.

The Lazers return to Mid-State Athletic Conference play at Cayuga Community College on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm. Onondaga’s next home game will be on Saturday, February 4th, at 3:00 pm, when they host Corning Community College. Onondaga, Cayuga, and Corning are all currently 3-3 in the MSAC standings, so these two games will likely prove to be pivotal in the conference playoff picture.