POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (4-22, 3-15 SUNYAC) succumbed to SUNY New Paltz (18-7, 12-6 SUNYAC) 87-80 on Senior Day. Junior guard Jeff Williamson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) led the Bears with 19 points in his final game at the Jerry Welsh Gymnasium. 

The Hawks opened the game on a 9-2 run which ended at the 16:36 mark. Graduate forward Kobe Bogart (Owego, N.Y./Owego Free Academy) scored seven points during the run. Williamson broke the Hawks' run at 16:08 when he sliced his way to the rim for two points. At 14:13, freshman guard Nicholas Cortez (New York, N.Y./Forest Hills) grabbed an offensive board and put it back up to close the New Paltz lead 11-8. New Paltz then routed another 11-4 run to go ahead of the Bears 22-12 at the 12:02 mark of the first half. One minute later, Cortez converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to trim the Hawks lead to five with 11:17 remaining. Senior guard Solomon Neuhaus (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Williston Northhampton) sank two 3-pointers over the following two minutes to extend New Paltz's lead 32-20 with 9:00 to go. Potsdam countered the Hawks' surge by routing a 10-2 run that was sparked by back-to-back threes from Williamson and freshman guard Ethan Baksh (Queens, N.Y./Richmond Hill). New Paltz led 34-30 with 6:14 remaining. Both teams traded baskets for the rest of the half as the Hawks took the 47-41 advantage into the break.

Potsdam opened the second half on a 9-3 run to tie the game 50-50 at the 17:38 mark. Junior forward Parker Kelly (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) made two layups during the run. At 16:53, the Bears took their first lead of the game 54-52 when Cortez intercepted a pass and went coast-to-coast for the fastbreak lay-in. New Paltz retook the lead at 15:31 when junior guard Dakoda Smith (Shinnecock Indian Reservation/Southhampton) split a pair of free throws to give the Hawks the one-point lead 55-54. After Williamson made a layup to tie the game at 58, New Paltz went on a 9-0 run to expand their lead 67-58 with 10:47 remaining. Potsdam fought back over the next two minutes to trim the Hawks lead to two points 69-67 with 8:03 to go. Senior guard Colton Huestis (Ticonderoga, N.Y./Ticonderoga) registered five points during this run. At 3:07, Williamson made a layup on a dime from Kelly as New Paltz continued to lead the Bears 80-77. New Paltz's defense stifled the Bears for the remainder of the contest as the Hawks took a seven-point victory over Potsdam in the season finale.

Huestis scored 17 points with six rebounds and Oduro Jr. tallied 16 points. Kelly registered 10 points and grabbed six rebounds while Cortez had a well-rounded performance with nine points, five rebounds, and five assists for the Bears.

Senior guard Sean St. Lucia (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) paced the Hawks with 21 points and Bogart followed with a 13-point performance. Junior guard A.J. Knight (Lakeview, N.Y./Holy Trinity Diocesan) posted 12 points while graduate guard Rylan Blondo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Lynbrook) scored 10 points to round out the leaders for New Paltz.

Before the game, the Bears honored Huestis, Williamson, and Oduro Jr. in their Senior Day ceremony. Huestis ends his tenure ranking eighth on the all-time 3-point field goals made list with 139 threes in 71 career games, edging Potsdam's all-time leading scorer Steve Babiarz who tallied 137 career threes. Williamson and Oduro Jr. both finish their careers averaging 9.3 and 6.4 points-per-game, respectively for the Bears.