The SUNY Potsdam men’s basketball team hit a first-half dry spell it was unable to rebound from Tuesday, falling 92-59 at Hobart in a non-conference affair at Geneva, N.Y.

Sophomore Curtis Pierce (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and three steals for the Bears (2-7 overall), who shot just 36.7 percent from the field and committed 24 turnovers. Hobart shot 51.6 percent from the floor and converted nine 3-pointers for the game.

“We missed a lot of open shots, and started to panic and force things offensively when we fell behind,” Potsdam coach Sherry Dobbs said. “Defensively, we just need to do a better job of competing and rebounding the basketball.”

After a 3-pointer by freshman Colin Peterson (Hilton, N.Y.), the Bears trailed by two with 11:42 to play in the first half before the Statesmen (8-3) made a 21-3 run to take a 40-20 advantage with just under five minutes to play in the period.

“We didn’t do a good job of talking on defense and we got lazy in transition,” Dobbs said. “The pressed us the whole game … we did some nice things offensively, but once we got down we didn’t handle ourselves very well.”

Hobart extended its lead to as many as 35 points in the second half. Each team shot an identical 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) from the free throw line.

Potsdam newcomers Tony Efese (Spring Valley, N.Y.) and Tom Pearson (Okotoks, Alberta) combined for 12 points in their first action with the team. Senior wing Anthony Williams (Long Island, N.Y.) posted seven points and four rebounds.

The Bears return to action this Friday, Jan. 7, for a State University of New York Athletic Conference contest against Brockport. Tip-off at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium is slated for 8 p.m.