Adam Dudzinski kicked off the 2025-26 season with a 20-point outing and added 12 boards for a double-double, as he helped the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team to a 80-72 win on Saturday afternoon at Burkman Gymnasium.

The win is the first of the year for the Saints, as they improve to 1-0 in their non-conference swing.

"It definitely felt nice to get the season started," said Saints head coach Chris Downs. "We had contributions from a lot of different players, which is always encouraging this early in the year. We began the game with a lot of energy, and it was encouraging to see players step up. First-year Aidan Phelan was absolutely terrific, he played with confidence, made smart decisions, and gave us some momentum."

The Saints scored first with back-to-back layups by Tommy McMahon for a 4-0 start. Geneseo crept up on the Saints for their closest margin on the day 6-5. However, the Saints pushed ahead, with Dudzinski leading St. Lawrence to a larger early lead again ahead 9-5 with a three-point shot.

This fueled an offensive tear for St. Lawrence, as they poured in 15 unanswered points to take a large lead at 21-5. Geneseo battled back into the game later in the half, narrowing the Saints' lead to 10 at half with the score at 35-25.

Anderson got the scoring started for the Saints in the second half to extend the lead to 13 with a three-point shot. Both teams went back and forth offensively, but the Saints held a lead around 10 points for most of the contest.

St. Lawrence had a 15-point advantage with two minutes to play, but Geneseo cut the lead to eight by the last minute. With a 77-69 score in the last minute, the Knights drew a foul from beyond the arc and drained all three free throws to close the gap further – but McMahon ended the game after being fouled directly thereafter and converting from the charity stripe to seal the Saints win.  



In addition to Dudzinski's points, he went 4-9 from beyond the arc. Phelan added 16 points off the bench in his collegiate debut, and went 4-6 from the free throw line. Dan Anderson also had 16 points. Chris Downs Jr. contributed with 10 points and narrowly missed the double-double, picking up eight boards. 

The Saints will now travel to Oswego to play the Lakers on Tuesday, November 11 at 7 p.m. After that, the team will start Liberty League play against rival Clarkson on Saturday, November 15 at 2 p.m.