BUFFALO, N.Y. - SUNY Geneseo senior forward Gordon Lyons scored 33 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for his 19th double-double of the season to lead the Knights to the 78-72 victory at Buffalo State in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) men's basketball, Tuesday.

Lyons, who scored 20 points in the first 20 minutes of play, finished one point short of the career-high 34 points he scored at Medaille (Dec. 8) earlier in the season. Senior forward Andy Drescher notched his first-career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while senior forward James McKenna chipped in 13 points in the win. 

"In most ways, it was a very good defensive performance for us," said head coach Steve Minton. "Gordon was a gladiator all night, and so was the rest of the team down the stretch. We found some big rebounds in the final minutes to win our third-straighton the road. Now hopefully we can do it at home."

Geneseo (12-8, 8-5 SUNYAC) scored the first eight points of the game on its way to building a 23-11 lead at 11:54 which was the largest margin for either team on the night. The Bengals (13-8, 9-6 SUNYAC) responded with a 17-8 outburst to pull within three, 31-28, with 6:23 left in the half before coming back to take a 43-42 lead at halftime.

Despite 13 second-half Geneseo turnovers, Buffalo State was held to 7-of-38 shooting (18.4%) which proved to be the difference.

The first five minutes of the second half saw the lead change hands four times before the Bengals broke a 50-50 tie with five-unanswered points to take their largest lead of the game, 55-50, with 14:48 on the clock.

Powered by nine points by Lyons, Geneseo put together an 16-5 run to retake a 66-60 lead with 6:53 remaining. 

Buffalo State made it a two-point game, 68-66, at 4:58, but a wide-open lay-up by McKenna fter a nice pass by senior guard Connor Rogers started a 7-2 Knights' run that gave the visitors a 75-68 lead with 2:26 remaining.

The Bengals made it a one-possession game, 75-72, at 1:09, but misfired on four field goal attempts in the last minute as the Knights converted 3-of-4 field goals down the stretch to ice the game and avenge a one-point loss, 87-86, to Buffalo State in Geneseo on Jan. 17.

The Knights look to extend their three-game winning streak this Friday, hosting New Paltz at 5:30 p.m., before squaring off with visiting Oneonta on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.