OSWEGO, N.Y.—Sophomore forward
Isaiah Brown (Westside Queens, N.Y./NIA Prep) scored a career-high 42 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (18-5, 13-3 SUNYAC) raced past Oswego State (16-6, 10-5) in the second half for a 76-62 road victory. Potsdam's single game scoring record is 43 set by the program's all-time scoring leader Steve Babiarz in 1988.
Senior captains
Jayquan Thomas (Hollis, N.Y./Richmond Hill) and
Aaron Armstrong (Lisbon, N.Y./Madrid-Waddington) each scored nine and freshman center
Tyrese Baptiste (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eagle Academy II) added eight.
The first half featured a pattern of the Lakers pulling out to a sizable lead and Potsdam catching up. A Jordan Brown dunk gave Oswego a 7-2 advantage at 18:40 and a Thomas 3-pointer tied the score at nine apiece. Jordan Brown scored on a layup at 12:41 to put the Lakers up 17-9. Two free throws from Armstrong got Potsdam within 22-21 with 7:28 left. Liam Sanborn sank two from the charity stripe at 6:14 to make it 28-21, but
Isaiah Brown made the most of a four-point play to give Potsdam its first lead at 30-28 with 1:42 left. Thomas and Oswego's Brandon Gartland traded threes in the final minute and the teams hit the break tied at 33.
The Bears stayed just out in front of the Lakers for the first eight minutes of the second half. Sanborn scored on a layup to get the Lakers back to within 46-45 at 11:42. Potsdam answered with a 16-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 62-45 lead. Brown scored eight points during the run. The Lakers closed the gap slightly the rest of the way, but never truly threatened again as the Bears cruised to the 76-62 victory.
Potsdam outshot Oswego 45-percent to 34-percent and outrebounded the Lakers 44-40.
Gartland led the Lakers with 18 points and eight rebounds. Joe Sullivan scored 16 and had seven boards. Sanborn finished with 10 points.
The Bears return home next weekend to lead finish out the regular season against SUNY Oneonta and SUNY New Paltz. Potsdam hosts the Red Dragons at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and the Hawks at 4 p.m. on Saturday for Senior Day.
