Potsdam struggles in road loss

CORTLAND, N.Y.- Potsdam struggled against the Cortland Red Dragons and fell 63-42. Cortland shot 52 percent from the field and held the Bears to 27.1 percent shooing to earn a conference win.

The Bears (2-4, 0-2 SUNYAC) knocked down six of their first eight attempts from the field but held only a marginal 13-12 lead. Cortland's Jesse Winter scored eight straight points for the Red Dragons as they pulled ahead 20-13 with 8:57 remaining in the half. Cortland (5-1, 2-0) kept the heat on and would increase their lead to 13 points with 3:30 left, but the Bears would rally. Freshman Zac Adams (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 10 and then knocked down another three as time ran out to end the half. The shot cut the lead to 32-25 in favor of the Red Dragons who were led by Winter's 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.    

Cortland came out of the half and took control of the game. The Red Dragons had it going on both ends of the court as they went on a 21-3 run over the first ten minutes of the half. Junior Curtis Pierce (Brooklyn, N.Y. / George Westinghouse Vocational) and sophomore Tony Efese (Spring Valley, N.Y. / St. Joseph Regional) ended the run with consecutive three pointers but the Bears managed only 17 second half points.    

Winter finished with 13 points and Jeremy Smith added 12 for the Red Dragons. Pierce led the Bears with 10 points and six rebounds while Adams added nine points.

The Bears return to action on Tuesday evening as they host SUNYAC foe Oneonta at 6 p.m.