GENESEO, N.Y. – The SUNY Geneseo Knights (10-9, 7-5 SUNYAC) edged the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (3-16, 2-9 SUNYAC) 70-66 on Saturday evening in a tightly contested affair. Junior guard Jeff Williamson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) paced the Bears with a game-high 23 points.
 
Potsdam came out of the gates scorching hot. The Bears went on an 8-0 run in the first four minutes of the contest to quickly go ahead of the Knights. Williamson netted a pull-up jumper and senior guard Colton Huestis (Ticonderoga, N.Y./Ticonderoga) and junior forward Parker Kelly (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) each sank 3-pointers during the run. Geneseo began to battle back at the 13:12 mark when Cole Kattan nailed a 3-point shot to cut the Potsdam lead 10-7. One minute later, Michael Gentile scored a layup off an offensive rebound to put the Knights within one. After Williamson made another layup off an assist from Kelly to make it 15-11 at the 10:57 mark, both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net. After a brief two-minute stalemate, Justin Yearwood swooped in for the offensive putback to put Geneseo within two points of the Bears. Both teams traded baskets over the next few possessions until freshman guard Erik Wall (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Grimes) dribbled up the court and sank a pull-up jump shot to give Potsdam a 20-16 edge with 6:16 remaining. Kelly complimented his teammate on the following possession by netting a 3-pointer to extend the Bears lead 23-16 with 5:13 to go. Four different players scored in the remaining five minutes as Potsdam ended the first half on a 10-4 run to take a 33-20 lead into the break.
 
Senior guard Isaac Oduro Jr. (Jamaica, N.Y./Christ the King) scored the first four points of the half for the Bears as they continued to maintain a comfortable 12-point lead over the Knights. Three minutes later at 15:52, freshman guard Nicholas Cortez (New York, N.Y./Forest Hills) dished a pass off to Kelly who finished the slam dunk as Potsdam held a 41-29 lead. Geneseo answered in the following minute with a 6-0 run to close the gap 41-36 with 14:30 to go. Shortly after, Josh Garelle and Robert Perocolosi each made driving layups to cut the Potsdam lead 43-40 with 13:12 remaining in the half. One minute later, Cole Kattan sank four free throws to allow Geneseo to take the one-point lead 44-43. Neither team gained any momentum over the other as the lead changed hands five times over the following seven minutes. At the 5:25 mark, Huestis nailed a 3-pointer to give the Bears some breathing room as Potsdam held a 61-56 edge over the Knights. Despite the Bears' efforts on defense, Geneseo fought back to cut the Potsdam lead 63-62 with 2:44 remaining when Garelle made a layup from Sebastian Pacheco. The Bears managed to add a few more points to their lead by netting three free throws in the following 30 seconds to extend their lead 66-62 with two minutes left. Garelle answered by sinking four free throws to tie the game 66-66 with 1:04 remaining. The Knights were able to hold off the Bears in the next possession, allowing themselves 45 seconds to take the lead. Coming out of the timeout, Garelle made a contested driving layup to put Geneseo up 68-66 with 38 seconds left. Kattan made two more free throws with seven seconds remaining to seal the win for the Knights.
 
Huestis scored 13 points and Kelly netted 12 points to compliment his teammate. Oduro tallied three steals to round out Potsdam's leaders.
 
Kattan led the Knights with 19 points while Garelle and Perocolosi had 18 and 16 points, respectively.
 
The Bears are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Plattsburgh State for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the Cardinals.