Onondaga Community College forward Rich Buckmon named Mid-State Conference Player of the Week

Lazers defeat SUNY Canton to set up first place showdown.

SYRACUSE, NY. – February 14, 2007 – Onondaga Community College men’s basketball player Rich Buckmon (Syracuse Henninger) has been named the Mid-State Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the week ending February 12. He is the second consecutive Lazer to be so honored, following Justin Stern (Jamesville-DeWitt), who received the honor last week. Buckmon led Onondaga to three conference wins on the week. He opened with a 12 point, 3 rebound, 3 assist effort in a win at Tompkins Cortland Community College last Wednesday. He followed that up with a career high 34 points, along with 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals in leading the Lazers past Cayuga Community College on Saturday. Finally, he tallied team highs of 20 points and 8 rebounds in the rematch with Tompkins Cortland on Monday night. For the week, Buckmon averaged 22.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per contest, while shooting 56.5% from the floor and 66.7% from behind the three point arc.

Last night, Onondaga took over first place in the Mid-State Conference with a 93-67 road win at SUNY Canton. The Lazers, now 10-1 in conference play, fell behind 15-5 at the start of the game, but rallied for a 41-38 halftime lead. Onondaga then opened the second half on a 24-8 run, and led by as much as 32 in the second half. Six Onondaga players scored in double figures, led by Danny Smith (Canastota), who tallied 21 points and added 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Buckmon notched a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Steve Siechen (East Syracuse-Minoa) also scored 12 points. Stern and Ryan Chapman (Syracuse Bishop Ludden) both added 11 points and Shane Williams (Camillus West Genesee) had 10 points. Onondaga connected on 30 of 71 shots (42%), including 9 of 18 fro behind the three-point arc. Canton shot 61% from the floor in the first half to stay in the game, but cooled to 45% (28 of 62) for the contest. Onondaga again enjoyed a large advantage at the free throw line, making 24 of 35 attempts compared to only 2 of 5 for the hosts. The Lazers held a 54-32 rebounding advantage, and forced 29 Canton turnovers.

Onondaga, now 19-6 overall, returns to action this Saturday at Broome Community College at 3:00 pm. First place in the Mid-State Conference will be on the line, as Broome, with a conference mark of 9-1, is only 1/2 game behind the Lazers. In their earlier contest Onondaga defeated Broome at home, 117-114, on January 27.

The following day Onondaga will play their final home regular season contest, a 3:00 pm Sunday afternoon rematch with SUNY Canton.