NORTH DARTMOUTH, MASS.—Emerson College (2-0) used a big second half to defeat the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (1-1) 95-82 in the championship game of the Lafrance Hospitality Tournament at UMASS Dartmouth. Senior guard
Nicholas Cortez (Harlem, N.Y./La Salle Academy) scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Bears.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Potsdam trailed through the first 10 minutes but put together a 12-3 run to grab a 29-26 edge at 6:59. Junior guard Remmiel Simon (Far Rockaway Queens, N.Y./Far Rockaway) led the charge with five points.
- A Cortez layup at 6:19 gave Potsdam its final lead at 31-29.
- The Lions rallied and slowly increased their lead. They took a 48-41 advantage into the break.
- Emerson pulled away in the second half.
- A layup by Roman Leraris gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 81-55 with 9:29 to play.
- The Bears outscored the Lions 17-14 the rest of the way but couldn't close the gap.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Emerson shot 54.3 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent from 3-point range. Potsdam shot 40.0 percent.
- The Lions had a 45-30 edge on the glass.
- Junior guard Mike Hancock (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds.
- Junior guards Josiah Smith (Shirley, N.Y./FDR) and James Reaves Jr. (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) each scored eight points.
- Brendan Taylor led Emerson with 21 points, including 5-of-9 from long range.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Potsdam travels to SUNY Poly on Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. contest.
