CANTON, N.Y.—Senior guard Joe Estramonte (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) shot 9-for-12 beyond the arc for a career-high 29 points, but St. Lawrence University (4-4) held off the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (1-7) for an 81-69 victory on Saturday afternoon. Bears freshman forward Vincent Smythe (Brentwood, N.Y./Brentwood) also had a career day with 12 points. Ben Crawford led the Saints with 20 points and six rebounds.
 
Potsdam raced out to a 13-8 lead five minutes into the contest, thanks in part to 11 from Estramonte on 4-for-4 shooting from the field. St. Lawrence answered with an 8-2 run, capped by a Willie Zachery layup to grab a 16-15 lead at 11:31. Estramonte then drilled his fourth three of the game to put the Bears back up 18-16 90 seconds later. The Saints took off after the basket with a 19-7 charge and led by 10 with 3:55 left in the half. Potsdam whittled the lead back to 35-29 with a layup from sophomore forward Josh Blagrove (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Ford) at the 1:48 mark. However, SLU hit the last two shots of the half and took a 39-29 advantage into the locker room.
 
Estramonte opened the final half with his fifth 3-pointer and Potsdam trailed by seven. Again the Saints responded with a big run. An 18-7 stretch over the next five minutes gave them a 57-39 lead with 14:19 to play. The Bears negated the run with a 21-8 charge of their own, including another three from Estramonte. Blagrove hit two free throws with 5:36 on the clock to get Potsdam within 65-60. Unfortunately, the Bears wouldn't get any closer as the Saints closed out the 81-69 victory.
 
Blagrove finished with 10 points and four rebounds and freshman forward Nate Wyatte (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grand Street Campus) matched him with 10 points and five boards. Senior guard Marquis Lee (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) totaled a game-high eight assists. Riley Naclerio contributed a double-double for SLU with 14 points and 10 boards. Zachery closed out his day with 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds for the Saints.
 
The Bears wrap up the semester tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. when they host SUNY Canton.