FREDONIA, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (6-6, 4-3 SUNYAC) defeated Fredonia (1-14, 1-7) 66-65 on Wednesday afternoon to complete a sweep of its Western New York swing. Junior forward
Brandon Segar Jr. (Jamaica, N.Y./Richmond Hill) paced the Bears with another strong performance of 17 points and seven rebounds. Freshman forward
Parker Kelly (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) scored 13 points and sophomore center
Tyrese Baptiste (Brooklyn, N.Y./Eagle Academy II) just missed a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds.
Potsdam outscored the Blue Devils 13-4 in the first 4:32 of the contest. Sophomore guard
Colton Huestis (Ticonderoga, N.Y./Ticonderoga) hit twice from long range during the run. Fredonia chipped away at the lead and a 3-pointer from Aaron Collins at 8:50 gave the Blue Devils their first lead of 24-23. Potsdam answered with a 14-7 run capped by a Segar fast break layup and the Bears led 38-30 with 43 seconds left. Fredonia scored the last four points of the half on layups from Collins and Brady Woleben to make it 38-34 at the break.
The Blue Devils jumped back in front 40-38 with back-to-back threes from Collins and Kreem George just 1:29 into the second half. After Bears freshman guard
MeSean Johnson (Ogdensburg, N.Y./Ogdensburg Free Academy) tied the game at the free throw line, Fredonia scored the next eight points for a 48-40 advantage. Potsdam rallied with an 18-6 stretch and a three from Kelly put Potsdam back on top 58-54 with 6:57 to play. The Bears couldn't shake the Blue Devils and a layup from Jacob Hougan with 4:06 to play gave Fredonia a 64-62 lead. Segar tied the game and made the most of the following free throw to put Potsdam up for good at 65-64. Kelly hit a free throw with 1:29 remaining to make it a two-point contest. Hougan was fouled with 15 seconds left. He had a chance to tie the game after hitting his first free throw, but missed the second. Adesoji Tiamiyu grabbed the offensive rebound but missed a layup. After the Blue Devils were awarded the rebound, Johnson stole the ball from Hougan to seal the win.
Huestis scored eight points and Johnson and freshman guard
Jeff Williamson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) each had six points and four rebounds. Johnson also had four assists.
Collins led Fredonia with 22 points, 15 on 3-pointers, and six rebounds. Hougan scored 12 points and grabbed five boards and Alon Kremerman had 11 points and four assists.
Potsdam hosts Fredonia at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Jerry Welsh Gymnasium.
