Men’s Basketball – Lakers Lose Pair of Weekend Games by Slight Margins
The Lakers dropped a pair of close games over the weekend to Columbia-Greene CC and Schenectady County CC.
HUDSON, NY. – On Saturday (11/17), Finger Lakes (2-5) fell by the slightest of margins to Columbia-Greene (on the road) – 51-50. The loss dropped the Lakers 2012-13 road record to 0-2.
Leading the way for Finger Lakes with a 10-point effort was Richard De La Cruz. In addition to his points, the sophomore forward dished out four assists in the contest.
Sean Carbonell followed De La Cruz in the scoring department for the Lakers with 9 points. To add to his scoring, Carbonell pulled down seven rebounds in the losing effort.
Despite not coming out on the winning end of the spectrum on Saturday, Finger Lakes, for the second consecutive game, received at least 2 points out of each of its players that entered the court. The Lakers bench accrued 19 points in the 40-minute pairing.
On the afternoon, the Lakers, as a team, shot 38% (17-45) from the field.
The top shooter of the day for Finger Lakes went to Dominique Higgins. The freshman guard went 3-4 from the field. He finished the game with 7 points.
Contributing 5 points off of the pine for the Lakers was Sean Sweeney. His contribution on the offensive end came with a 1-2 showing from beyond the arc. Overall, the Lakers made just two three's on the day. The other FLCC three-point basket came from 6'5" Patrick Erdle.
Ultimately, what decimated the Lakers in the away match was their inability to hit free throws. Collectively, they shot just 58% from the charity stripe where they went 14-24 as a team.
CANANDAIGUA – Finger Lakes, in yet another close game on Sunday, became victims of defeat in its latest game – a game that took place in its own gymnasium – to Schenectady County – 82-78. The matchup marked the fourth consecutive game in which the Lakers played their opponent to an outcome that was decided by four points or less. In those contests, the Lakers went 1-3.
Despite the score not favoring the hosts, Finger Lakes played a solid game both offensively and defensively. Playing a team that showed no fear of lunging up three-point shot attempts, the Lakers hung in yesterday's contest throughout its duration despite 9 three's that were made by the Royals.
Finger Lakes was led on the offensive side of the ball by De La Cruz and his game-high 22 points. The game marked the sixth consecutive in which he has reached double figures in scoring. De La Cruz shot 6-14 from the field and was a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line in the high scoring affair.
Sunday's contest favored Schenectady 39-33 at halftime. The first half consisted of the Royals shooting just 33% versus the Lakers 45%.
Overall, Finger Lakes outshot the Royals 44% to 38% on the afternoon. Despite the 9 three's made by Schenectady, the Lakers shot 39% (7-18) in comparison to the Royals 33% (9-27) – from the three-point surface.
The Royals, however, did outmatch the Lakers at the free throw line. If you look at the box score, the difference in free throw shooting could be pointed at as a valid reason for who came out victorious in this matchup.
Schenectady shot 21-23 from the line – which is equivalent to 91%. Finger Lakes, on the other hand, went 21-31 (68%) from the charity stripe.
The Royals earned the victory behind 53 bench points (another key factor that could easily be pointed at as a reason for them claiming the win). The astounding amount of bench points consisted of three players reaching double figures in scoring – led by Kenneth Kemble and his team-high 18 points.
Reserves Aaron Francis and Jesse Smith added 15-point and 12-point games respectively for Schenectady. Also contributing in the win with a 12-point showing was starter Reece Jackson.
Chipping in with quality afternoon's on offense for the Lakers were Higgins (12 points), Sweeney (11 points), Carbonell (9 points), and Kelvin Munoz (8 points).
To go along with his scoring, Higgins dished out a game-high seven assists all while grabbing a team-high six steals.
Sweeney's offense came with a 4-6 effort from the field while Munoz's 8 points were the result of a perfect 4-4 shooting day.
Adding a very good day for the Lakers around the glass was freshman Kaleem Edwards. The 6'4" guard grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in the defeat.
Finger Lakes, on the season, now stands at 2-3 on its own court. The Lakers will return to the hardwood tomorrow for a home meeting with Jamestown CC-Olean. That game is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.