HAMBURG, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (1-6) fell to Hilbert College (8-0), 90-71, in the first round of the Hilbert Hawks Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday evening. The tournament was originally scheduled for Nov. 21-22, but was postponed due to the major snowstorm in the Buffalo area. Senior guard Rishawd Hendricks (Brooklyn, N.Y./Mount Zion Christian Academy) led the Bears with 12 points and senior captain Zac Adams (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) finished with 11.
 
The Hawks jumped out to a 9-4 four lead minutes into the contest, but Potsdam answered with an 8-3 run capped by a jumper from junior guard Mitch Lamerson (Dansville, N.Y./Dansville) to knot the score at 12-all. With 7:26 remaining in the half, Hilbert's Malique McCoy was fouled behind the arc and sank all three free throws to give the Hawks their biggest lead of the half at 26-20. Again the Bears answered with a run. A 12-5 stretch gave Potsdam its lone lead of the contest at 32-31. However, Hilbert ended the half with a 13-4 run of its own and took a 44-36 lead into the locker room. The Hawks shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Junior guard Joe Estramonte (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) sank a jumper 16 seconds into the final half to get the Bears within 44-38, but that is as close as they'd get. Hilbert steadily extended its lead to 14 at 57-43 over the next five minutes. Potsdam's final charge came from a 10-3 run to close to within 60-53 with 11:25 remaining. A 26-11 run by the Hawks gave them their largest lead of the game at 86-64 with 3:04 on the clock. The teams traded buckets over the remainder of the game as Hilbert punched its ticket to tomorrow's championship contest with the 90-71 final.
 
Bears junior forward Tariq McIntyre (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) and Lamerson each posted nine-point games. Estramonte and senior captain Greg Torchon (Spring Valley, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional) each scored eight points and senior forward Conor Engle (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) grabbed a team and career-high 11 rebounds.
 
Trevor Stark led the Hawks with 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Sean Weisansal scored 17 points and Ryan Bradt chipped 14. Jordan Kumro and McCoy totaled 11 and 10, respectively.
 
Hilbert topped Potsdam in shooting percentage, 49.2 to 38.2 and each team pulled in 45 boards.
 
The Bears look to bounce back in tomorrow's consolation game at 1 p.m. against John Carroll University. The Blue Streaks fell to Nazareth College, 85-80, in their first round meeting this afternoon.