OSWEGO, N.Y. - An 18-5 run to end the game, highlighted by a pair of drives to the basket by Chad Burridge, earned the Oswego State (5-1, 2-0 SUNYAC) men's basketball team a 70-61 win over Plattsburgh (2-4, 0-2) at Laker Hall on Saturday.
After the lead changed hands a total of 13 times during the game, Hayden Ward (Jr., Montauk N.Y.) gave the Lakers the lead for good with 4:12 left to play when he beat the defense down the floor and Sean Michele (Sr., East Rochester, N.Y.) found him for an easy lay-in.
Burridge (Sr., Hannibal, N.Y.) scored the team's next five points to put the game away, including a play that brought the crowd to their feet. After a steal by Ward with 1:20 to play and the Lakers up 63-59, Oswego State worked the clock. The offense was stalled on the wing, when a pass underneath the basket had to be saved by Michele, who was falling out of bounds. Michele hit Burridge with a pass on the left wing with two seconds left on the shot clock. The senior drove the lane and dunked the ball and drew a foul with 33 seconds left.
An ensuing technical foul and late free throws capped off the 70-61 win.
Early in the game, the Lakers led by as many as eight at 12-4, but Plattsburgh closed gap quickly and tied the game at 21 with 4:08 to play. From there neither team led by more than four points until the final minute.
Burridge finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Michele added 14 points and five assists. Michele hit three straight three-pointers in a four-minute span midway through the second half with the lead exchanging hands with each shot.
Ward also added 17 points and eight rebounds, while Josh Bruno came off the bench to lead the Cardinals with 13 points. Plattsburgh's top scorer this season, Shaver Fields, was limited to just three minutes in the first half by foul trouble and held to two points.
Burridge also moved into seventh on the school's all-time rebounding list with 700 boards, surpassing 1979 graduate Bill Thieben.
A busy week of conference road games has the Lakers visiting Brockport on Tuesday, Fredonia on Friday and the Buffalo State, the No. 16 team in the country, on Saturday.