Canton, NY – The SUNY Canton men's basketball team held a double-digit halftime lead but visiting St. Lawrence University used a strong second half to earn an 89-78 victory on Tuesday in the Roos House.
 
Canton (0-3) extended its lead to as many as 20 (47-27) in the opening half as they took a 49-33 lead into intermission.
 
The Roos shot 57 percent from the field (20-for-35) and 44 percent (7-for-16) from long distance in the opening half. Adrian Williams led Canton with 18 points, while Joseph Werner added nine and Jordan Ayers and Ibu Smith tallied seven apiece.
 
The St. Lawrence (1-2) offense exploded to start the second half going on a 41-15 run over the first 10:17 to open up a 74-64 advantage.
 
 
The Roos trimmed the deficit to four at 68-64 following an Andrew Fitch layup but that was as close as they would get as the Saints held on for the win.
 
Williams led the Roos with 18 points but was held scoreless after intermission and added eight rebounds. Smith totaled 13 points, while Joseph Werner recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Danny Santana, Victor Bakre and Jordan Ayers chipped in nine, eight and seven points, respectively.
 
Riley Naclerio led the Saints with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Cam Keely hit five three-pointers to finish with 18 points and added six rebounds and five assists. Ben Crawford added 15 points and seven board, while Dom DeRegis and Brandon Arnold posted nine points apiece.
 
The men's basketball team is back in action on Saturday when it visits the University of Rochester at 5 p.m. to open play in the UR/Holiday Inn Rochester Downtown Basketball Tournament. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the SUNY Canton Athletics department by "liking" us on Facebook and "following" our Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts.

About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service and recently received number one rankings in library resources, library services and tutoring services in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey. The college's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 13 exclusively online degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level and are conference members of the newly formed American Collegiate Athletic Association.