Box Score PURCHASE, N.Y. – SUNY Potsdam guard Curtis Pierce led all players with 30 points to help counteract four Valiants in double figures and lead the Bears to an 86-80 victory over Manhattanville in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Kennedy Gym.
 
In a game that featured plenty of offense on both sides, Pierce led all players but the next four top scorers all came from the Valiant side. Junior Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) led the squad with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and added seven rebounds, followed by freshman Anthony Maestre (Bronx, N.Y./Mount St. Michael Academy) with 17 points. Freshman Andrew Winter (Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) also had a solid game, hitting 5-of-6 shots on the way to a season-high 13 points, while junior Colin Campbell (Miami, Fla./LaSalle) added 12 points and seven assists of his own.
 
In addition to Pierce's team-leading 30 points and nine rebounds, Mark Lake, Jr. also had a good overall game with 12 points, nine assists and three steals, while Rob Duquette added 11 points and seven boards for the Bears.
 
Both teams shot the ball very well on the afternoon, finishing at or near 55 percent from the field. Manhattanville connected at a 54.2 percent (32 for 59) clip from the floor, but still had the lesser of two percentages because Potsdam shot an even better 56.1 percent (32 for 57). The Bears also posted a 34-24 edge in the boards.
 
The two teams showed how evenly matched they were at the start of the game, as the first eight minutes featured eight lead changes. The Valiants scored seven straight points to account for the final lead change of the opening stanza, as Bramswig had a pair of buckets and Maestre sunk a three to make it 31-25 Valiants with 7:37 to go.
 
Manhattanville got the lead up two nine points on two occasions in the half, first on a three-point play by Bramswig and again on a layup by graduate student Craig Augustine (Citrus, Fla./Citrus). But Potsdam closed the half on an 11-3 run, led by six points from Pierce, to get back into the contest and trail by just one at the break.
 
The two squads were both excellent shooting the ball in the first 20 minutes, as the Valiants hit 54.2 percent (18 of 31) of their shots and the Bears shot a superb 61.5 percent (16 for 26) from the field.
 
The Valiants started the second half with back-to-back buckets by Winter, but Potsdam came back with a 10-1 run to open up a 55-51 lead with 15:43 left.
 
The visitors' lead was nine points with 4:13 left in the game, but Manhattanville used a 10-1 run of its own to get right back into the contest. Winter started the run with a three-pointer, followed by a steal and fast-break layup by Maestre to make it 79-75 with 3:21 left.  The freshman did it again in the final minute, as his steal and score brought the team all the way back and tied the score at 80 with 48 seconds remaining.
 
But Pierce had one more big bucket in him, sinking a deep jumper from the corner with the shot clock winding down to make it 82-80 with 18 seconds on the clock. Manhattanville had a chance to tie the game, but the team could not get a shot off on its final possession and two Zac Adams free throws clinched the win.
 
Manhattanville (7-6) will play nothing but Freedom Conference contests for the rest of the regular season, beginning the crucial 12-game stretch on Wednesday with an 8 p.m. meeting with FDU-Florham at Kennedy Gym. The game will be video streamed on GoValiants.TV beginning at approximately 7:55 p.m.