POTSDAM, N.Y. – Jayquan Thomas scored on a driving layup with less than four seconds remaining and Potsdam erased a 10-point deficit in the final six and a half minutes as the Bears defeated visiting Cortland, 65-64, in SUNYAC men's basketball action.
 
Potsdam is now 5-9 in league play and 10-11 overall. Cortland fell to 15-5 overall and 10-3 in the conference. The Red Dragons will play at league leader Plattsburgh Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
James Morales (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) led Cortland with 15 points, seven assists and three steals. Carrel Joseph (Deer Park) scored 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Justin Cooper (Pine Plains/Stissing Mountain) ended with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
Dante Langley scored 17 points for Potsdam. He made 4-of-8 3-pointers, including all three of his second-half attempts. Thomas and Serigne Kane tallied 12 points apiece, with Thomas also registering six assists and six rebounds. Kane shot 5-of-6 from the floor, and Danny Delsol-Lowry added eight points, four assists and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Cortland led 36-29 at halftime, but Potsdam rallied to tie the game at 45-45 less than seven minutes into the second half. The Bears were within one at 53-52 with 9:07 left, but Cortland went on a 9-0 run, capped by a Nicky Bonura (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) 3-pointer, to take its largest lead of the night at 62-52 with 6:32 remaining.
 
Potsdam started its comeback with a Kane dunk, followed by a Langley 3-pointer at the 5:33 mark. Langley hit another trey less than a minute later, and Aaron Armstrong's 3-pointer with 3:04 left put the Bears on top, 63-62.
 
Cortland scored its final points of the game on a Zach Lydon (Elizaville/Stissing Mountain) dunk off a Morales feed with 2:22 remaining. Potsdam was fouled with 1:23 left but missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Cortland missed a contested jumper with just under a minute left.
 
Cooper stole a pass with just over 40 seconds left to keep Cortland up by one. The Red Dragons ran down most of the shot clock on their ensuing possession before missing a 3-pointer. Potsdam called timeout in the frontcourt with 8.2 seconds left. Thomas drove past a defender and hit a layup from the right side gave the Bears a 65-64 lead.
 
Following three timeouts – two by Cortland sandwiched around one by Potsdam – Cortland got the inbounds pass from underneath the Potsdam basket to Bonura. He was able to take a couple of dribbles before launching a desperation shot from just beyond halfcourt that hit the backboard and the left side of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
 
Potsdam finished at 48 percent shooting from the floor overall and 10-of-21 (48 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Bears shot 54 percent overall and 63 percent (5-of-8) from three in the second half. Cortland finished at 43 percent from the floor and 33 percent (8-of-24) from long range.