POTSDAM, N.Y.- Second half surge by SUNY Geneseo (14-9, 10-6 SUNYAC) pushed the Knights past the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (2-20, 1-15 SUNYAC) with a score of 70-59 Friday night at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium. Senior captain Zac Adams (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) and freshman guard Tishsean Emmanuel (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) each finished with 14 points to lead the Bears. Geneseo's senior forward Gordon Lyons (Amherst, N.Y./Canisius) recorded a double-double in the win with 17 points and 10 rebounds and added five assists.
 
The Knights opened the scoring with a three by senior forward James McKenna (Huntington, N.Y./Harborfields) followed by a free throw from Lyons to jump on the Bears early. Emmanuel answered by hitting from behind the arch. Then a layup from McKenna and a 3-pointer from senior guard Rishawd Hendricks (Brooklyn, N.Y./Mount Zion Christian Academy) tied the game at 6 apiece at 17:16. From then on Geneseo kept the lead, but the Bears were hot on their trail. At 10:37, senior guard Joe Estramonte (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) knocked down a three to get the Knights' lead down to one.  The teams battled the rest of the half before Geneseo went on a 10-4 run with three minutes remaining, that was capped by a layup from Lyons to close the half and bring the score to 35-27 Knights lead.
 
A layup from Adams started a 10-4 run through the starting minutes of the second half. The run was capped after a steal from Hendricks that he slammed home to get the lead down to three. The Knights' offense ignited following the dunk and went on a 22-4 run. At 7:52, the Bears started to fight back. Adams hit from behind the arch to start an 18-8 run, but Potsdam ran out of time and Geneseo took the 70-59 win. Emmanuel scored eight of the Bears 18 points during the run.
 
Hendricks tallied 13 points on the night and reached the 500-point plateau for his career and Estramonte added eight. Senior guard Andy Drescher (Fayetteville, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) finished with 14 points, while junior guard Connor Keenan (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville East) tacked on eight points.
 
The Bears are back in action tomorrow at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium to take on the Golden Eagles of Brockport at 2 p.m.