POTSDAM, N.Y.- St. Lawrence University (1-0) held off the surging SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (0-1) to take the 88-84 victory on Tuesday night in the Bears' season opener. Sophomore guard Nosa Onabor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Northside Charter) started the season with a career-high and game-high 27 points, while junior forward Riley Naclerio (Cohoes, N.Y./Albany Academy) scored 19 points for the Saints.
 
St. Lawrence opened the scoring at 19:42 with a layup from sophomore forward Ben Crawford (Framingham, Mass./Buckingham, Browne & Nichols). Onabor followed it up with a layup for the Bears. The teams battle back in forth over the first five minutes of play which included four lead changes. After the Saints gained a five point lead, Onabor hit from behind the arch to ignite a 13-0 Bear run capped by another 3-pointer from junior captain Kevin Baksh (Queens, N.Y./Richmond Hill) to give Potsdam an eight point lead. St. Lawrence answered with their own 12-4 run to grab a two-point advantage, followed by the Saints closing out the half going 12-for-14 from the free throw line to take the 39-33 lead into halftime.
 
Sophomore forward Serigne Kane (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Prep) got two points for the Bears to start the second half then the see-saw play urged on until the 13:09 minute mark. Sophomore guard Tyrone Adeyeye (Brooklyn, N.Y./Benjamin Banneker) hit two from the foul line to start a 17-8 Potsdam run that was capped by another free throw from freshman guard Jayquan Thomas (Hollis, N.Y./Richmond Hill) to get the Bears within two. The Saints took control following Potsdam's run with their own 11-1 run to get their lead back to 12 with less than six minutes to go. At 4:57, St. Lawrence was whistled for a foul on Onabor. He knocked down both free throws to push another 19-11 Bear run. With eight seconds to go, Potsdam was within two, but with more clutch shooting from the free throw line from St. Lawrence. The Saints took the 88-84 win.
 
Thomas finished the night with 16 points to start his collegiate career and five rebounds. Fellow freshman guard Danny Delsol-Lowry (Queens, N.Y./Queens H.S. of Teaching) added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists to his stat sheet, while Adeyeye tallied eight points for Potsdam. Junior captain Josh Blagrove (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Ford) grabbed seven boards.
 
Crawford fell short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, while senior guard Kyle Kobis (Elma, N.Y./Berkshire School) added 18 points. Senior guard Kyle Edwards (Norwich, N.Y./Norwich) tacked on 13 points, while senior guard Willie Zachery (Atlanta, Ga./Druid Hills) and sophomore guard Dom DeRegis (Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Potsdam will be competing in the North Country Invitational at Clarkson University starting Friday night when the Bears face Gordon College at 6 p.m.