The St. Lawrence University men's basketball team dropped its season opener on Friday evening, as Oswego State held on for a 62-58 victory in Oswego, NY. The Saints were led by captain Brady Condlin's 13 point, nine rebound outing and Willie Zachery's 16 points.

The Saints (0-1) struggled from the floor in its opener, shooting 32% (17-of-53) from the floor. Despite falling behind by 17 in the second half, the young team rallied and closed the gap but their rally came up short as Oswego State improved to 2-1 on the year. The Lakers were led by Brian Sortino's game-high 17 points, while Rashawn Powell added 16 points and eight boards.

"We had significant minutes played tonight by many new players, and it's going to be a while before we click as a group," said Saints head coach Chris Downs. "That said, I thought we kept scrapping and made it a game."

Oswego State held a 34-24 edge at intermission, as the visitors went 7-for-24 from the floor. Zachery kept the Scarlet and Brown in it with 10 points in the half, while Condlin was 2-for-3 for six points in the opening period. The Saints held an 18-15 lead midway through the period off a lay-in by Zachery, but Sortino stormed back for the Lakers and paced his team to a 19-6 run to close the half.

Kieran Miller's bucket with 13:06 to play in the second half closed the gap to six, as St. Lawrence cut it to 42-36 and had a chance to get closer but missed on the ensuing jumper. Ian Schupp followed with a clutch three pointer that sparked an 11-0 Oswego run that pushed the Lakers up 53-36. Though St. Lawrence would get within five at 60-55 thanks to a three pointer by Jeremy Mendrick with 22 seconds remaining, Kyle Covley's free throws would ice it and secure the win for the Lakers.

St. Lawrence will look to bounce back tomorrow, Saturday, November 22 when it visits the College at Brockport at 2:00pm.