POTSDAM, N.Y.—Fredonia State (11-7, 6-6 SUNYAC) grabbed a second half lead and held off the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (4-16, 2-11) for a 73-69 victory. Blue Devils senior guard Julius Bryant scored a game-high 24 points, while junior captain Curtis Pierce led the Bears with 22 of his own.

Potsdam jumped out to an 8-2 advantage by the 13:46 mark. After a spurt closed the gap to 10-7, the Bears offense opened up again. A 12-6 run gave Potsdam a 22-13 lead with 6:08 left in half. The nine-point advantage was the Bears' largest of the game. Fredonia closed the half on a 12-5 run and trailed 27-25 at the break. Potsdam outshot the Blue Devils 52 to 38 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

The teams traded buckets to open the final half. A three-pointer from sophomore guard Tony Efese put Potsdam up 34-31 with 15:42 remaining. However, Fredonia answered with four threes of their own in a 20-4 run over the next seven minutes to grab a 51-38 lead. Two of the threes came from senior guard Jonathan Herrera who finished with nine points. A Bryant layup made it a 58-44 lead with 6:15 on the clock. The Bears chipped away at the deficit until a Pierce three made it 72-69 with 12 seconds to go. Six seconds later a free throw from senior guard Leonard Smith iced the 73-69 win for Fredonia.

Blue Devil forwards Amir Billups and Damien Goodwin II each scored 12 points and Smith finished with 10. Senior forward Brad Drysdale and junior guard Josh Lambert both contributed 14 for the Bears, while Efese also hit double digits with 10.

Potsdam is back in action tomorrow afternoon when the Bears host Buffalo State at 4 p.m.