Syracuse, NY - The Onondaga Community College (5-10) men's basketball team will return home to play against Cayuga Community College (5-8) on Tuesday evening.  The game will tip off at 7:00 pm, and be played in Allyn Hall on the Onondaga campus.  It will be the Mid-State Athletic Conference opener for both the Lazers and the Spartans.

Onondaga completed the pre-conference portion of their schedule last week by facing a pair of NJCAA Division I opponents in the Daytona State New Year's Classic in Daytona Beach, FL.  On New Year's night, the Lazers faced tournament host Daytona State College, the #22 NJCAA Division I junior college team in the nation.  The Lazers hung in for most of the first half, but Daytona State pulled away in the second half of a 113-61 win.  Joe Piazza (Central Square P.V. Moore) and Zach Loura (Fulton G. Ray Bodley) scored 10 points each to lead the Lazers.

On January 2nd, the Lazers faced Indian River State College, the #9 ranked Division I team in Region 8.  Onondaga led for a good portion of the first half, before falling behind by 6 at the halftime break.  The Lazers were still within single digits with just over 5:00 remaining, but Indian River pulled away late to secure the 86-71 win. Tyler Bliss (Liverpool) scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Lazers, and Patrick Twiss (Mexico) added 17 points and 8 assists.

Vaughndell Brantley (Cicero-North Syracuse) leads Onondaga in scoring on the season, averaging 15.5 points per game.  Bliss adds 13.5 points per game, and also pulls down a team best 8.5 rebounds per contest.  He is also shooting 56.5% from the floor.  Piazza is averaging 10.2 points per game.

Cayuga comes into Tuesday's game off of a 105-79 loss at NJCAA Division II Genesee Community College on Saturday afternoon. Transfer guard Glenn Taggart, a former All-MSAC player at Finger Lakes Community College, paced Cayuga with 22 points, while Zaki Thomas and Joe Godette added 19 each for the Spartans.  Taggart is scoring 18.8 points per game on the season, while Thomas and Godette are adding 18.3 and 11.8 points per game respectively.

After Tuesday's game, the Lazers will go back on the road to play Corning Community College on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.  That game will be the first of 6 in a 12-day stretch for Onondaga.