POTSDAM, N.Y.- SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (1-18, 1-11 SUNYAC) falls to SUNY New Paltz (4-14, 3-9) Friday night at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium with a 94-80 loss on Bear Pride Night. Bears' senior guard Joe Estramonte (Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich) and Hawks' senior guard R. J. Rosa (North Branch, N.Y./Sullivan West) both finished tied for game-high scoring with 27 points each.

Junior forward Brandon Guest (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) started a 10-2 run to open the contest for New Paltz, but Potsdam answered with a 19-11 run that was started with a layup from freshman forward Tyrone Adeyeye (Brooklyn, N.Y./Benjamin Banneker). Freshman guard Nosa Onabor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Northside Charter) capped the run with a 3-pointer to cut the Hawks' lead to two with less than 11 minutes to go. New Paltz got out to their first double-digit lead of the night after a jumper from freshman forward Nick Paquette (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) at the 8:31 minute mark. The rest of the half, the teams traded baskets with the Hawks holding onto a 52-40 lead at the break. Estramonte scored 14 points of his 27 points during the first half of play.

The Bears gained zero ground through the first five minutes of the second half with each team scoring nine points and Estramonte scoring seven of Potsdam's total. Rosa's hot hand propelled New Paltz forward with an 18-9 run with Rosa scoring nine and capping the run with a steal and a dunk at 10:02. Play evened out again with Potsdam holding the slight 20-15 scoring advantage in the closing minutes, but couldn't gain enough ground to catch the Hawks.

Bears held 33-31 advantage on the boards.

Freshman forward Serigne Kane (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Prep) recorded a double-double for the Bears with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Senior guard Mitch Lamerson (Dansville, N.Y./Dansville) added 11 points and six boards, while Onabor tacked on 10 points.

Senior forward Alex Perlman (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) finished with 18 points and fellow forward Andrew Seniuk (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) tallied 16 points. Guest grabbed 12 rebounds and added seven points, five assists and four blocks on the night and senior guard Keegan Donovan (Groton, N.Y./Groton) and Paquette finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Potsdam is back action tomorrow when they hit the hard wood with SUNY Oneonta at 4 p.m. in Jerry Welsh Gymnasium.