FREDONIA, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (2-8, 1-3 SUNYAC) found itself down 14 points with 9:13 to play before surging past Fredonia State (1-8, 1-4) for a 78-73 win on Saturday afternoon. Bears junior guard
Joe Estramonte (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) scored 17 of his career-high 22 points in the second half. Senior guard
Rishawd Hendricks (Brooklyn, N.Y./Mount Zion Christian Academy) matched his personal best with 20 points, while junior guard
Mitch Lamerson (Dansville, N.Y./Dansville) also registered a career-high with 13 points.
The teams battled back-and-forth in the first half, with 11 lead changes and three ties. Potsdam and the Blue Devils each built leads four, but couldn't pull away. Senior captain
Zac Adams (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) led the Bears in the first half with nine points, while Fredonia's Dante Williams had 10 though the first 20 minutes. A Lamerson layup at 4:17 gave the Bears a 26-22 advantage, but the Blue Devils responded with a 9-1 run and closed the half with a 34-32 lead.
The score remained tight through the first four minutes of the second half. At 16:11, Adams hit a layup and the ensuing free throw to pull Potsdam within 42-41. Fredonia then caught fire and nearly ran away with the game. A 17-4 run, capped by a Max Pearce 3-pointer made it a 59-45 contest with 9:13 to play. Lamerson immediate answered with a 3-point play of his own, sparking a 28-9 Bears run to give Potsdam a 73-68 lead with 2:01 remaining. Estramonte scored 11 points during the stretch and Hendricks was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line during the run. Lamerson hit two free throws and Hendricks was 3-of-4 in the final 25 seconds to seal the victory for the Bears.
Adams finished with 14 points for Potsdam and Hendricks had a game-high seven rebounds. Williams paced the Blue Devils with 18 points. Akil Spruill had 13 and Ian Helps contributed 10.
Potsdam forced 19 turnovers, including 10 in the second half, while only turning the ball over 11 times itself.
Next, the Bears return to Jerry Welsh Gymnasium this Friday, when they host SUNY Cortland at 5:30 p.m.
