The Oswego State men's basketball team saw its Cinderella season come to an end Saturday after suffering a 71-63 loss to Rhode Island College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament at Max Ziel Gymnasium. The Anchormen shot 55.3 percent from the field on 21-of-38 shooting as all five starters accounted for all but four of the squad's points. The Lakers finished the season at 24-5 overall for the second-most wins in school history, as well as making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Rhode Island College, which has made five straight NCAA appearances, moved to 21-7.
The Anchormen raced out to a quick 12-2 lead behind a pair of Carl Lee treys, but Oswego State scored nine consecutive points to make the score 12-11 after a jumper by Conor Monaghan. Rhode Island College countered with seven unanswered points of its own before Monaghan fed Chris Gilkes for a layup that started a 12-2 Laker run to give the home team a two-point advantage with 6:54 on the clock. Darius Debnam scored on the Anchormen's final possession of the half to give Rhode Island College a 31-29 lead at the break, despite shooting 52.2 percent for the floor.
Carl Lee scored 11 of his 15 total points in the first half. However, the host Lakers stuck with their opponent due in large part to the play of Ward, who recorded eight points and seven boards, five of which came on the offensive glass.
Gilkes tied the game for Oswego State at 43-43 with 12:13 left to play, but back-to-back Rhode Island College layups capped off a 6-0 run that put the Anchormen ahead 51-44 three minutes later. The Lakers cut the deficit to five points following a pair of free throws by Hayden Ward and 7:38 remaining. However, that would be as close as Oswego State would get the rest of the way as Rhode Island College scored 13 of its final 18 points from the charity stripe.