POTSDAM, N.Y.—In his Bears debut, sophomore forward Isaiah Brown (Westside Queens, N.Y./NIA Prep) scored a game-hjgh 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (7-3, 2-1 SUNYAC) to an 86-70 victory over the College at Brockport (7-3, 2-1) on Friday evening. Senior captain Jayquan Thomas (Hollis, N.Y./Richmond Hill) scored all 20 of his points in the second half and recorded five assists and fellow senior captain Danny Delsol-Lowry (Queens, N.Y./Queens High School of Teaching) sparked the Bears out of the gate and finished with 16 points and five assists.
 
The Golden Eagles led 2-0 and 4-2 and though they forged several ties during the contest, never led again. Brockport senior forward Justin Summers (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bushwick Campus) opened the scoring with a layup, but Brown countered with a jumper on the very first shot of his Potsdam career to tie the score. The Bears used baskets by Delsol-Lowry, junior forward Dante Viskovich (Massena, N.Y./Massena), sophomore guard Isaiah Joseph (Harlem, N.Y./Izquierdo Health & Science) and Brown to build a 10-6 lead at the 14:23 mark. A layup from Brown at 9:52 capped a 24-10 run and gave Potsdam it's biggest advantage of the half at 26-14, but the Bears couldn't shake the Golden Eagles. Brockport outscored Potsdam 20-8 over the next seven minutes to tie the game at 34 apiece with 2:49 left in the half. The Bears used a 7-3 spurt, including a Delsol-Lowry three, heading into the half for a 41-37 lead at the break.
 
Thomas opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but Brockport used a 13-9 stretch to even the score at 50 at 16:26. Potsdam quickly pulled away again with six straight points from Brown and Thomas, but the back-and-forth scoring pattern continued. Golden Eagles graduate student guard Tyler Collins (Newark, N.Y./Newark) hit one of his four second half threes to close the gap to 58-55 at 13:47. The Bears scored the next eight for a 66-55 lead, but Summers and Collins answered to get it back to within six. However, Brockport struggled to stay within six for the remainder of the contest. Brown hit a three to make it 77-68 at 4:52 and Thomas nailed one of his own just a minute later. Brown put the exclamation point on the win with a thundering dunk that made it 82-68 with 2:55 on the clock. Thomas then scored the final four points for the Bears to close out the 86-70 win.
 
Joseph finished with eight points and senior captain Aaron Armstrong (Lisbon, N.Y./Madrid Waddington scored six and dished out four assists.
 
Summers led the Eagles with 19 points, while Collins finished with 16 and sophomore guard Jahidi Wallace (Troy, N.Y./Lansingburgh) had 15 and totaled six boards. Junior forward Devante Hagins (Rochester, N.Y./Leadership Academy for Young Men) just missed a double-double with eight points and 12 boards.
 
The Bears shot nearly 52-percent from the floor (35-68), while holding Brockport to 39-percent. The rebounding battle was even at 43.
 
While his big three had big nights, Potsdam head coach Jim Bechtel was proud of his unsung heros who proved the depth his program has built.
 
The Bears look to keep their momentum when they host SUNY Geneseo at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.