POTSDAM, N.Y.—SUNY Geneseo (2-7, 1-2 SUNYAC) led by nine with just under six minutes remaining, but couldn’t hold off the SUNY Potsdam men’s basketball team (4-5, 2-3), which rallied for a 66-56 overtime victory. Junior captain Curtis Pierce recorded his third double-double of the season with a game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Both teams traded baskets throughout the first half, with the Blue Knights holding a slim lead for much of the 20 minutes. Two free throws from freshman forward James McKenna at the 4:16 mark gave Geneseo a 21-16 advantage. Bears sophomore guard Tony Efese immediately answered with a steal and a dunk. After a missed Geneseo three-pointer, Pierce knotted the score at 21 apiece with a three of his own. Trailing 25-23 with 53 seconds left, Pierce again hit a three and Potsdam took a 26-25 lead into the locker room.

In a physical second half, Geneseo slowly erased a five-point Bears lead and built one of its own. A 17-4 run over a seven-minute stretch gave the Blue Knights a 42-34 advantage with 10:49 to play. Three times in the next four minutes Geneseo extended their lead to nine points, but couldn’t shake Potsdam. Senior forward Brad Drysdale started a 13-4 run to end regulation with a basket with 5:23 left. With 22 seconds on the clock, junior guard Josh Lambert hit the second of two free throws to tie the game at 53. Drysdale closed out regulation with a block of Blue Knight sophomore Jordan Jones.

The Bears opened overtime with an 11-0 run, doing most of the damage from the free throw line. Potsdam was nine for 11 from the charity stripe, while they held Geneseo to one of 11 shooting from the floor in the extra five minutes. The Bears outscored Geneseo 13-3 in overtime for the 66-56 win.

The Bears shot 45 percent from the field and the Blue Knights finished at 39 percent. Potsdam forced 18 turnovers while turning over the ball 15 times itself. Sophomore captain Rob Duquette scored 14 for the Bears and Efese finished with 11. Geneseo was led by senior forward Abe Miller and McKenna who each had 10 points.

“I thought we did a great job of battling back and getting ourselves in a position in overtime to win the game,” said Bears Head Coach Sherry Dobbs. “We hit our free throws at the end of the game which was really important for us. It’s a credit to our guys to not give up when we got down six or seven points a couple times. We also did a really good job communicating on switching screens. We challenged shots in our zone defense and did a great job rebounding at the end of the game. We didn’t allow them many second chances. “

Potsdam is now off until Jan. 3, 2012, when they take on Alvernia University at 8 p.m. in the first round of the Casa Mia Holiday Tournament hosted by DeSales University.