Ben Crawford scored 12 second-half points and finished with a team-leading 20 points while Riley Naclerio added seven of his 14 total points in the final 20 minutes leading the St. Lawrence University Men's Basketball team to an 81-69 victory over SUNY Potsdam Saturday afternoon at Burkman Gymnasium in Canton.

The Saints (4-4) shot 38 percent (13-for-34) in the first half and built a 39-29 lead at the halftime intermission but came back in the second half hitting shots at a 56% clip (15-for-27) as St. Lawrence maintained a double-digit lead for a majority of the final 20 minutes.

"We shot well in the second half," said Head Coach Chris Downs. "Ben (Crawford) has been playing great for us and Riley (Naclerio) continues to get better and better and is making better decisions."

The teams traded baskets early in the game before St. Lawrence went on a 9-0 run in the latter half of the opening period keyed by a Naclerio 3-pointer, a pair of Willie Zachery free throws and another jumper by Naclerio as the Saints opened up a 35-25 advantage over Potsdam (1-7).

Another 9-0 run early in the second half stretched the St. Lawrence lead to 18 points at 57-39 prompting a Potsdam time out. The Bears came back to trim the lead to 11 points scoring the next seven straight points before Kieran Miller with three points and Kyle Kobis with another two regained control for the Saints with a 62-46 lead at the 10:34 mark.

Potsdam continued to battle back and trimmed the lead to just five points with 5:36 remaining. Miller scored a pair of layups and Crawford added a layup and a fast break dunk as the Saints went on an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach.

Crawford led the Saints with 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line while Naclerio added 14 and Zachery chipped in 13. Kyle Edwards and Kobis added nine points each. Naclerio led the rebounding effort with 10 rebounds while Sam Barrett added eight, Kobis seven and Crawford six as the Saints held a 47-35 rebounding advantage.

The Saints were also 21-for-26 from the line while Potsdam was limited to just eight free throws and connected on six.

The Saints will not play again until Jan. 8-9 when they open Liberty League play with a home weekend doubleheader against Vassar and Bard.