POTSDAM, N.Y. - The SUNY Poly men's basketball team beat SUNY Potsdam 86-83 on Saturday afternoon. Cheickne Toure had a team-high 32 points while Anthony Rose had 23 points to lead the Wildcats in the non-conference win. With the win, the Wildcats move to 5-4 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Wildcats traveled up north on Saturday afternoon to face non-conference opponent SUNY Potsdam. The exciting game would have six lead changes and would be fast-paced from the start to the finish. After the Bears got out to an early 12-6 lead, Anthony Rose and Kamryn Comstock would help cut the Wildcats deficit to 12-10. Jeff Williamson was a key factor for the Bears, scoring a team-high 26 points, including knocking down four three-pointers. After a Cheickne Toure three-pointer to give the Wildcats a 29-27 lead, Williamson would quickly make a layup to tie the game at 29-29. Anthony Rose would continue his strong first half, scoring six consecutive points for the Wildcats to give them a 37-31 lead. A Toure layup at the end of the half would give the Wildcats a 43-39 lead heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Bears refused to go away and outscored the Wildcats 44-43 in the half. The Bears would take their first lead of the second half on a Colton Huestis three-pointer with 15:45 remaining in the game. Toure would answer back with a triple of his own at the 13:38 mark to tie the game at 52-52 before Williamson would again put the Bears back on top with a triple of his own. With 8:16 to play, the Wildcats would take the lead for good on a Josh Ernst layup to make the score 62-61. Ernst was recognized by Coach Rob Schoener for his great defensive efforts, he grabbed 7 rebounds, had 4 steals, and 1 block while also adding in 10 points. After Williamson hit another key three-pointer with 1:11 left in the game to cut the Wildcats' lead to 80-79, Justin Osmond hit a clutch three-pointer with :31 seconds left to give the Wildcats an 83-79 lead to give them separation. Majesty Johnson and Toure would make key free throws at the end of the game and the Wildcats would hold on for an 86-83 victory.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Anthony Rose, Cheickne Toure, and Josh Ernst all scored in double digits for the Wildcats.

• Isaac Oduro, Jr., Jeff Williamson, and Shaheed Alcide all scored in double digits for the Bears.

• Cheickne Toure continued his great play, recording his third 30-point performance of the year.

UP NEXT: 

The Wildcats will be back in action tomorrow next weekend as they travel to Pennsylvania to face York on Saturday, December 16th. The game is scheduled to start at 2:00 PM.