GENESEO, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (14-4, 9-2 SUNYAC) got back into the win column Saturday evening with a 68-59 victory over the SUNY Geneseo Knights (6-12, 3-8) on Saturday afternoon. The Bears never trailed in the contest. Freshman center Tyrese Baptiste (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eagle Academy II) led the Bears with 16 points, 14 rebounds, three thefts and two rejections. Senior captain Jayquan Thomas (Hollis, N.Y./Richmond Hill) finished with a team-high 18 points.
 
The Bears got out to a lead early, with Baptiste scoring six of the Bears first 11 points. Baptiste introduced the scoring at the 18:01 mark with a putback. The teams battled back and forth with the Bears maintaining a slight lead throughout. Eventually, Potsdam's 14-1 run in the later stages of the half gave them the largest lead of the half at 15 (35-20) with 1:21 left. The run started with a pull up jumper from Thomas at the 5:23 mark and it concluded with senior captain Aaron Armstrong's (Lisbon, N.Y./Madrid-Waddington) putback after a missed free throw. Free throws from the Knights halted the run by the visitors. Thomas helped the Bears finish the half strong after his 3-point attempt bounced around and went in to close. Potsdam went into the locker room with a 38-24 halftime lead.
 
Joseph Harclerode opened up the second half scoring with a reverse layup off the bounce pass from Alex Merhige. A couple of possessions later, Merhige followed it up with a drive and slam to get the Knights within 10. However, the Bears continued to find answer for a run by Geneseo. After the dunk, Delsol-Lowry dished it to Armstrong in the left corner, who drilled the 3-point shot to make it 41-28 at 17:19. At the halfway point of the second half, Thomas' floater off the glass granted Potsdam the largest lead of the game at 16. After Geneseo nearly came within single digits again with a personal 7-0 run by Michael Gannon, freshman forward Ahamadou Sillah (Bronx, N.Y./Kipp NYC College Prep) responded with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 7:24 remaining. The Bears were able to rely on their defense to keep the Knights at arm's length. The home team would eventually come within single digits with 11 seconds left, but the Bears had already secured 68-59 win.
 
Armstrong ended with 14 points and grabbed seven boards. Sophomore forward Isaiah Brown (Westside Queens, N.Y./NIA Prep) added 10 points and six rebounds.
 
For the Knights, Merhige chipped in with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists.
 
Potsdam shot 46-percent from the field and Geneseo shot 40-percent. The victory was the Bears' first at Geneseo since February 4, 2006. Today's win was Potsdam's 14th of the season, the most since the program won 16 during the same year.
 
The Bears play the last game of their road trip on Tuesday in Plattsburgh at 7:30 p.m.