POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (7-14, 5-10 SUNYAC) slayed Buffalo State (1-20, 0-14 SUNYAC) on Bear Pride Night. Senior forward Ahamadou Sillah (Bronx, N.Y./Kipp NYC College Prep) paced the Bears with a 19-point performance. Senior forward Brandon Segar Jr. (Jamaica, N.Y./Richmond Hill) had a near triple-double registering 15 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists.
 
The Bears defense ruffled the Bengals early in the opening quarter as sophomore guard MeSean Johnson (Ogdensburg, N.Y./Ogdensburg Free Academy) and Sillah each scored a basket in transition put the Bears up 4-0. On the following play, sophomore guard Jeff Williamson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) sank a three-pointer off a sweet find from Johnson to quickly extend the Bears lead to five. Potsdam continued to hold onto the lead until Bengals junior guard Robert Richards (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) sank a three to take their first lead of the game 19-18 midway through the first half. The Bears then routed a 5-0 run lead by Sillah who converted an old-fashion three-point play to overtake Buffalo State 23-19 at the 9:30 mark. After trailing Potsdam 28-21, the Bengals went on a 9-2 run to tie up the game at 30 with 6:21 remaining in the half. The back-and-forth scoring continued as the Bears surged to another 8-2 run to go ahead 38-32 with 3:18 to go. Two plays later, Sillah skied over the Buffalo State defense and hammered home a thunderous dunk to extend the Bears lead to eight. Potsdam scored four more points to take a 44-37 advantage into halftime.
 
The Bengals came roaring into the second half on a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to three two minutes in. That was the closest that Buffalo State would get for the remainder of the half as junior guard Isaac Oduro Jr. (Jamaica, N.Y./Christ the King) and Williamson nailed consecutive three-pointers to put the Bears back up 10 at the 13:48 mark. The Bears continued to handle the Bengals as the clock ticked down. Junior guard Brian Pod (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) sank a three and senior guard Austin Dropkin (New Hartford, N.Y./New Hartford) kissed one off the glass in the final minute to seal the 88-69 victory in front of a raucous home crowd at the Jerry Welsh Gymnasium.
 
Williamson and Johnson both recorded 15 points to round out the balanced scoring for the Bears.
 
Sophomore guard Matt Parkinson (Springfield Gardens, N.Y./John Browne) paced the Bengals with 19 points and senior guard Tyron Smith (New York, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall) chipped in 14.
 
The Bears are back in action tomorrow when they host SUNY Fredonia in the second game of their weekend doubleheader.