OSWEGO, N.Y.—- The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (9-7, 5-4 SUNYAC) fell to the conference leading SUNY Oswego (14-2, 9-0 SUNYAC) 72-70, on Tuesday night. Oswego had it going from outside, shooting a blistering 12-of-21 (57%) on threes. Both teams exchanged leads throughout the tightly contested game, but the Lakers pulled away with critical baskets from Quinn Carey and Julien Crittendon. Senior guard Nosa Onabor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Northside Charter) had 17 points and grabbed five boards. Junior guard Danny Delsol-Lowry (Queens, N.Y./Queens High School of Teaching) put up 11 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Jayquan Thomas (Hollis, N.Y./Richmond Hill) added 15 points and was disruptive on the defensive end with six steals.

Liam Sandborn started the game hot for Oswego, connecting on his first two shots behind the arc early in the first half. Neither team was able to create a large separation on the scoreboard and exchanged the leads midway. Thomas' layup through contact gave the Bears a 16-15 lead and forced a Lakers timeout at the 10:23 mark. At 6:30 Oswego took their largest lead of the game at eight, after Crittendon's layup. The lead was short lived as senior forward Dante Langley (Schuylerville, N.Y./Schuylerville) went on a personal 5-0 run with a free throw and two layups through traffic. Potsdam then regained the lead after Onabor's layup off a half court pass from Thomas. During the final minute of the half, the Lakers tied the game off a Tyler Pierre layup, followed by Sandborn's pull-up jumper that gave him 10 first half points and Oswego a 36-34 lead.

The Lakers opened up the scoring in the second half with seven unanswered points. It started with an offensive outback from Pierre, a shot inside through contact by Joe Sullivan, and followed by Brandon Gartland's three from the left corner. After being down nine to begin the half, Onabor's three point shooting got them within four, and Thomas' free throws made it a one possession game. The Lakers gave themselves some breathing room after Carey drilled his third three-pointer of the game from the left corner off of the assist from Crittendon. Both teams traded shots behind the arc midway through the half. First with Onabor finding himself wide open for a deep three, followed by Sanborn's three from the left wing. The Lakers led 60-54 and called a timeout at the 9:13 mark. Immediately after the timeout, junior guard Aaron Armstrong (Lisbon, N.Y./Madrid-Waddington) sinked his first three of the game and senior forward Serigne Kane's (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Brooklyn Prep) layup brought the Bears to within one. Carey then hit a three of his own with a hand in his face, and Pierre followed it up with a layup. The shot forced a Potsdam timeout and Oswego led by six with five minutes remaining. Langley hit a mid range jumper at the 4:30 mark, and neither team could get a bucket until just over minute remaining, with Carey making his fifth three-pointer, forcing a Bears timeout. After two made free throws from Onabor, Langley and Crittendon exchanged layups down the stretch. Down five with three seconds left, Potsdam got a clutch three from Thomas. Sandborn was intentionally fouled and sent to the line where he missed the free throw, but with only a second remaining and no timeouts, Potsdam wasn't able to get off a quality shot and fell 72-70.

Sandborn led all scorers with 20 points and dished out six assists for the Lakers. Carey added 15 points, making 5-of-11 shots beyond the arc. Brandon Gartland added 11 points.

Potsdam shot 53% from the field, while Oswego shot 52%.

The Bears are back in action Friday as they host SUNY Geneseo at 7:30 at the Jerry Welsh Gymnasium.