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Bears men's basketball defeats Geneseo on Bear Pride Night

Posted 2/9/13

POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (9-12, 5-9 SUNYAC) hosted SUNY Geneseo (14-8, 10-5 SUNYAC) for Bear Pride Night late Friday evening. Four Bears reached double digits in the …

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Bears men's basketball defeats Geneseo on Bear Pride Night

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POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (9-12, 5-9 SUNYAC) hosted SUNY Geneseo (14-8, 10-5 SUNYAC) for Bear Pride Night late Friday evening. Four Bears reached double digits in the 75-61 victory over the Knights. Senior guard Mark Lake, Jr. and junior forward Rob Duquette led the Bears with 17 points apiece.

The first half was tightly contest by both teams. Geneseo would take an early lead off of a layup by sophomore forward Gordon Lyons. Senior guard Josh Lambert responded with a drive to the basket to put the Bears on the board at the 18:29 mark. Both teams would jostle for position for the next eight minutes. Sophomore forward Zac Adams would give Potsdam some momentum as he drilled a jump shot to spark an 8-0 run. However, the Knights answered and back-to-back buckets by Lyons cut the lead to two points with 5:01 remaining. The Bears held the slight advantage over Geneseo and with under a minute left in the half junior forward Colin Peterson added a jump shot to claim a three-point lead. Senior forward Ryan Riefenhauser would miss on a contested layup with 24 seconds left to give Potsdam a chance to increase the deficit. Lambert answered the challenge, as the senior would drill a basket from beyond the arc with two ticks remaining to put the Bears up 35-29 at the break.

Potsdam would shoot 52% from the floor in the second half to secure the win. Geneseo was poised for a come back in the final stanza. The Knights would open up on a 6-0 run three minutes into the final half. Yet, Lake was able to stop the offensive with a three pointer at the 16:11 mark. Potsdam slowly built momentum from Lake's three and with just under ten minutes remaining the Bears claimed a 10-point lead. An old fashioned three point play by Duquette would keep the Potsdam engine rolling to increase the deficit to 13 at the 8:24 mark. Geneseo attempted to charge back into the contest in the remaining minutes but solid free throw shooting by the Bears secured the 75-61 win.

Potsdam finished shooting 47% from the floor and 84% from the charity stripe. Geneseo shot 51% from the field but struggled from the line, shooting 44%. The Knights would edge the Bears in rebounds, 35-33. The Potsdam defense forced 19 turnovers. Senior forward Curtis Pierce totaled 15 points and seven rebounds. Lambert added 10 points and six boards.

Lyons recorded a double-double performance with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Connor Fedge totaled 11 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward Jordan Jones finished with 10 points.

“I wanted to thank the students and fans that came out tonight to make the atmosphere so great,” said Head Coach Sherry Dobbs. “It was an overall balanced team effort. We played well defensively and we were able to generate turnovers. I thought we shared the ball extremely well and that translated into our overall performance. I thought Zac played very well tonight. Also, it is nice to have Rob back. He is a big, physical presence in the post and that is one of the things we lacked a little bit. I was very pleased with our performance tonight.”

The Bears return to the court tomorrow for Senior Day against The College at Brockport. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.