POTSDAM, N.Y.—SUNY Oneonta (3-3, 1-0 SUNYAC) shook off an early deficit to down the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (1-3, 0-1) 79-73 in the teams' SUNYAC opener on Friday night. Junior guard Joe Estramonte (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) scored 17 points to lead the Bears, while senior captain Zac Adams (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) added 12 points. Seniors Zach Mager (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and Frankie Kelly (Brewster, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) paced the Red Dragons with 25 and 20 points, respectively.
 
After trading 3-pointers to open the contest, Potsdam used balanced scoring to build an eight-point lead. Junior guard Mitch Lamerson (Dansville, N.Y./Danville) drained a three at 11:27 to give the Bears their largest lead of the contest at 22-14. However, Oneonta chipped away and used a 19-7 run to seize its first lead. Kelly hit a layup and sank a free throw to make it 33-29 Red Dragons at 4:59. Oneonta never trailed again and built its advantage to 45-37 by the half.
 
Potsdam opened the final 20 minutes with layups from Adams and Estramonte to close to within 45-41. Again, the Red Dragons answered with a three-point play from Mager and a layup from senior forward Kareem Williams (Bronx, N.Y./IN-Tech Academy) to extend their advantage back to nine with 15:48 to play. Two Majer free throws at 9:05 gave Oneonta its biggest lead of the game at 67-54. Trailing 72-60 with 4:23 left, Estramonte sparked Potsdam to an 8-0 run with six more points and the Bears trailed by just four. Oneonta recovered to keep Potsdam at arm's length for the rest of game en route to the six-point win.
 
Junior forward Tariq McIntyre (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) registered a career-high 10 points and seven rebounds for Potsdam. Senior guard Rishawd Hendricks (Brooklyn, N.Y./ Mount Zion Christian Academy) also scored 10 points, while Lamerson finished with a personal best eight points.
 
Williams finished with 10 points and eight boards for Oneonta and junior guard Jack Dignan (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) contributed eight points and four assists.
 
The Bears will look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon when they host SUNY New Paltz at 2 p.m.