SYRACUSE, New York – As the final buzzer rang throughout the SRC Arena and Events Center Wednesday evening, the Onondaga Lazers could finally breath a sign of relief.
The Lazers won their second game of the season in yet another thriller to begin the year, but with the Lazers being on the winning side of this affair.
Onondaga (2-1) bounced back from their heartbreaking 54-53 loss Sunday evening in the Onondaga Community College Classic; the Lazers losing on a buzz-beating three by Northampton Community College.
Wednesday night saw the Lazers win a 91-84 thriller in-front of a large, rowdy crowd in the SRC Arena.
SUNY Adirondack and Onondaga came out swinging, giving each other blows to begin the game. The back and forth scoring proved to hurt the Lazers early, as the Timberwolves were able to jump out to an early lead.
The Timberwolves began to gain momentum midway through the first, jumping out to an eight-point lead, but the Lazers kept clawing back. Onondaga refused to give up, and at 8:46 remaining in the first half
Nikeem Deleon slammed home a breakout dunk.
Even with the back-and-forth of momentum SUNY Adirondack continued to lead 41-35 with 2:53 remaining in the first half.
"I thought we didn't play particualy well to begin the game, but I saw toughness and grit in the team down the stretch" said head coach
David Pasiak during the post-game interview. We were really able to find our rhythm in the second half, and fought back to win the game.
The Lazers surged and went into the locker room at halftime only down three, 44-41 and well within reach of completing the comeback.
Pasiak added "Being a good team is finding a way to win when you're not playing at your best."
The second half saw more back-and-forth action between the two squads, with each school gaining momentum only to quickly see the other steal is away.
Onondaga saw six players score in the double-digits, including
Steven Dolgos, who lead the Lazers with 16 points on the night.
Zachary Sawyer and
Kameron DiSanto added 15 and 14 respectively while Deleon,
Jordan Bandera, and
Baron Correll all chipped in with eleven or more points.
Tied 61-61 at 12:52 left in the second, the Lazers were finally able to get back into the game.
Rensey Chandler was lightning in a bottle for the Timberwolves in the second half, and ended the game with a team high 27 points for the Timberwolves despite the loss.
"This is a good bounce back for us, as we are still a work in progress" added Pasiak. "We have a lot of freshman, and even some of our sophomores haven't really played a lot until this season."
With 9 minutes left in the second half, the game's insanity started to rise, with Onondaga taking a slight lead. The crowd, which had been loud all evening, really started to get into the game.
With 7:35 remaining in regulation, Onondaga and Adirondack once again got knotted up, tied 71-71. After a Timberwolves missed free throw the Lazers were able to take the lead, this time never looking back.
Malachi Dean fouls out for Timberwolves at 5:07 left in the second, and was one of three Adirondack players whom was in foul trouble early out.
With 37.2 seconds left
Kameron DiSanto put the nail in the coffin with a monster dunk, adding to his 14 points on the night.
"Every day we are trying to get better, both individually and as a team. If there was a silver lining on getting beat Sunday, it allowed us to focus on what we need to put more attention on."
Onondaga will hit the road this weekend along with the women's program to battle Schenectady County CC and Fulton-Montgomery CC on Saturday and Sunday respectably. Both games are set to tip-off at 3pm.
