POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (2-0) defeated the Bridgewater State Bears (1-2) 85-78 in the North Country Tip-Off Championship game on Saturday afternoon. Clarkson University (1-1) roughed up Green Mountain College (0-2) 76-44 in the consolation game.
 
Junior forward Nosa Onabor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Northside Charter) posted a double-double in the first half and finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead Potsdam in both categories and capture MVP honors. Junior forward Serigne Kane (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Prep) ended the day with 16 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Danny Delsol-Lowry (Queens, N.Y./Queens H.S. of Teaching) scored 14 with three assists and a pair of steals.
 
The game built up slowly with Kane and Onabor scoring the Bears' first 14 points, giving Potsdam a narrow 14-12 lead through the first nine minutes. Halfway through the first, after a free throw from freshman guard Errol James (Queens, N.Y./John Adams), freshman forward Dante Viskovich(Massena, N.Y./Massena) converted a three-point play. With 8:42 left in the first, junior forward Dante Langley (Schuylerville, N.Y./Schuylerville) made a layup to keep the Bears in the lead 20-16. At the 6:34 mark, Bridgewater State sophomore forward Rayshon Ward (Plymouth, MA/Plymouth North) made a jumper giving his Bears the lead at 21-20. The Bears from Bridgewater would keep the lead for a few minutes, until a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from Delsol-Lowry surpassed them. Sophomore center Kristoff Saunders (Queens, N.Y./Queens H.S. of Teaching) grabbed an offensive rebound and was able to get the put back to keep the Bears in front. For the final three minutes, Onabor scored the next eight points with Kane closing it out with a layup. Potsdam entered halftime up 37-31.
 
Kane and freshman guard Colby Simpson (Queens N.Y./Queens H.S. of Teaching) started the second half with a pair of layups and a 3-pointer. With another put back layup from Saunders, Potsdam broke out to a 21-8 run over the next seven minutes. Potsdam reached its largest lead of the game with an alley-oop dunk by Langley from Errol at 7:07 making it 67-50. With 6:39 left Bridgewater created its own 15-6 push, closing the gap to four. Bridgewater sophomore guard Ryan Carney (Easton, MA/Oliver Ames) led the charge with six points. Potsdam was up 73-69 with 2:09 left, but pulled away again with a quick 10-1 run to put the game out of reach. Eight out of the 10 points during Potsdam's run were made from the charity stripe.
 
Sophomore guard Aaron Armstrong (Libson, N.Y./Madrid-Waddington) ended with seven points and the team high four assists. Along with his 16 points, Kane recorded two blocks and two steals.       
 
Ward led Bridgewater State with 23 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) and senior forward Joseph Carty (Nartick, Mass./St. Andrew's School) both had 17 points, Carty also brought in eight boards. Carney added 12 points.
 
 Clarkson 86, Green Mountain 44
 
In the consolation, Clarkson sprinted out of the gate with a 16-2 run through the first eight minutes. Green Mountain College could not close the gap and entered halftime trailing 37-21.
 
Clarkson kept the pressure on throughout the second half. The Golden Knights seized its largest lead of the game at 69-34 with 5:51 left and cruised to a 76-44 win.
 
Sophomore guard Matt Higgins (South Glens Falls, N.Y./South Glens Falls) led Clarkson with 15 points and tied with a team high five rebounds. Freshman guard Roburt Welch (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Francis) was right behind Higgins with 14 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Malaquias Canery (Lawrence, Mass./Clinton) contributed 10 points and three boards. Sophomore guard Barryn Shark (New York, N.Y./Saint Joseph Academy) was the distributer with 11 assists. Shark also tacked on five points and five boards.
 
Freshman guard Duane Goodman Jr. (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) led Green Mountain with 12 points and two steals. Senior guard Diante Warner (Albany, N.Y./Green Tech) was second in scoring with seven points and junior guard Alex Sanchez (San Fernando Valley, Calif./Valencia/College of the Canyons) led the team with seven rebounds.
 
Goodman Jr. from Green Mountain College, Carty and Ward from Bridgewater State, and Armstong and Onabor receive all-tournament team honors.
 
The Bears will be back in action on Tuesday, November 21, at 6 p.m. as they travel to Newburgh, N.Y. to square off against Mt. St. Mary.