March 5, 2005
Potsdam Men Defeat Salem St. in OT
Potsdam advances to Sweet 16
Potsdam, NY – The Potsdam Bears defeated Salem State in Saturdays second round NCAA Tournament game by a final of 74-73 in OT. The Bears record improves to 26-3 as they advance to next Friday’s sectional match up against St. John Fisher.
Potsdam took a 28-27 lead in the locker room at the half while shooting 34% from the field. After early foul trouble for the Potsdam big men, Michael Brooks (Utica/Mohawk Valley CC) came in off the bench to lift the Bears defensively, recording 9 rebounds and 6 points in the half. Ernst Ducena (Brooklyn/Midwood) hit a three point shot to propel the Bears to the lead.
The second half was neck and neck the whole way, with Potsdam trailing by as many as 6 points at one time. Ducena came off the bench and scored 14 second half points while shooting 5-7 from behind the arc for the game. Jim Connelly (Cayuga/Union Springs) added 15 points for the Bears, including 2 foul shots with 14 seconds left in OT. Ryan Lynn (New Rochelle/New Rochelle) finished with 9 points and 5 assists, including 2 foul shots with 25 seconds left in the game.
Salem State had a chance to win with 2 seconds in regulation but threw the ball out of bounds. They fought back to tie the game once in OT and took a 1 point lead twice, but just couldn’t cut into the lead after that. The Vikings were led by Tyler Lang (Franklin/University of Hartford) with 18 points and 8 rebounds. Willie Phillips (Boston/east Boston) followed with 16 points, while Wilkins Victor (Lawrence/Lawrence) and Ifesinachi Anosike (Staten Island/Fisher CC) both added 10 points.
A Friday victory by the Bears will have them playing Saturday against the winner of Amherst and Rochester in the other sectional game.
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