ONEONTA, N.Y.- Curtis Pierce recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. The performance pulled Pierce to within 10 points of 1,000 on his career, but was not enough to get the SUNY Potsdam men’s basketball team (5-18, 3-13 SUNYAC) past Oneonta (3-21 2-15) as the Bears fell 71-57.

The Red Dragons quickly gained the upper hand thanks to a 7-0 run. The spurt gave Oneonta a 16-4 lead less than four minutes into the game. Potsdam chipped away at the deficit and cut the score to 20-10 with 11:21 remaining. Neither team managed a field goal for four and a half minutes until Pierce knocked down a three-point basket. Junior guard Josh Lambert scored a driving basket on the ensuing possession and cut the lead to 21-15. However, Oneonta responded with a 7-0 run over the next 1:13 to push the lead back up to 13. Twice over the final three minutes Potsdam cut the lead to 10, but never got the deficit to single digits. Frankie Kelly’s layup with three seconds left on the clock gave the Red Dragons a 34-22 lead going into halftime.

The Red Dragons opened the second half on a 20-6 run to extend their lead to 54-28 over the first nine minutes. The Bears and Red Dragons traded baskets for the next four minutes. With 5:13 remaining, Lambert hit a three to start a 17-7 Bears’ run to end the game. Pierce hit another Potsdam three with 2:58 on the clock to cut the Oneonta lead to 66-46. During the next 90 seconds, forward Zac Adams and sophomore guard Chris Whispell each connected from long range to complete the Bears streak of four consecutive threes. Two free throws from sophomore guard Yusef Graves got the Potsdam to within 13, but the Bears ran out of time.

Adams finished with nine points and Lambert with eight. Kelly led all scorers with 21 for Oneonta, while Dan Lee and Alex Skrelji added 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Red Dragons outshot the Bears 48 to 41 percent from the floor.

Potsdam wraps up its season on the road this weekend at Geneseo and Brockport. The Bears face the Blue Knights at 8 p.m. on Friday and the Golden Eagles at 2 p.m. on Saturday.