POTSDAM, N.Y.- SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (2-20, 1-15 SUNYAC) falls short against SUNY Plattsburgh (17-6, 12-4 SUNYAC) Tuesday night at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium with a 71-67 loss. Senior captain Zac Adams (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) led the Bears with 15 points and seven rebounds and Cardinals' senior guard Jordan Moody (Peeksill, N.Y./Yorktown) finished with 19 points in the victory.

Both teams struggled to find their offense early in the first half. At 17:20, a Potsdam foul sent Moody to the foul line. Moody knocked down both shots to open the scoring. At 16:55, a jumper by senior guard Rishawd Hendricks (Brooklyn, N.Y./Mount Zion Christian Academy) put the Bears on the board and tied the game. Potsdam and Plattsburgh exchanged baskets through the rest of the half with neither team leading by more than six points. To close out the half, Adams drained a 3-pointer and a free throw to get the Bears within two. Potsdam trailed the Cardinals 38-36 going into halftime.

To open the second half, a Plattsburgh foul put Hendricks on the free throw line, who knocked down two to tie the game at 38 apiece. Less than a minute later, a mini 13-7 run put the Cardinals up by six before being shutdown with a three by senior guard Tom Graf (Elbridge, N.Y./Jordan-Elbridge). After a made foul shot from the Cardinals, Graf hit another from behind the arch at 10:40, to give the Bears a one-point lead. The teams went basket-for-basket over the next nine minutes of play before Graf hit from long range again to put Potsdam up one with 1:03 remaining. The Cardinals came through in the clutch by hitting six-for-six from the free throw line to seal the 71-67 win over the Bears.

Hendricks finished with 13 points and six boards while Graf scored all of his points in the second half to add nine to the Bears total. Junior guard Marquis Lee (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) followed Graf with nine points of his own. Senior forward Reggie Williams (Yonkers, N.Y./Gorton) tacked on 16 points and six rebounds for the Cardinals. Sophomore guard Xavier Thomas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Thomas Jefferson) and junior forward Kyle Richardson (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) each added nine points.

The Bears wore a "Stan" patch in memory of Coach Stan Cohen, who passed away on Feb. 4, 2015.

The Bears are back in action this weekend at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium to close out their regular season against SUNY Geneseo Friday night at 5:30 p.m. and College at Brockport Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.