LYNDON CENTER, Vt. — New England College erased a 20-point, first-half deficit and rallied to an 85-80 victory over Lyndon in North Atlantic Conference men's basketball action.

The Hornets, behind a salvo of three-pointers, built a 33-13 lead early in the first half only to see the Pilgrims chip away at the advantage and trail by nine at intermission. New England's depth and athleticism took over in the second half and wore down the short-handed Lyndon squad which dressed only nine players for the game.

Robin Wilson led the Pilgrims (2-5, 2-0) with 20 points and 10 rebounds and Ryan Schmitz chipped in 16 points and six steals. Troy Prather tossed in 14 points for the winners and the tandem of Spencer Marzouk and Abdirahman Mohamed added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Ben Sackett (Lyndonville, Vt.) had a game-high 31 points for the Hornets (0-7, 0-2), including a 7-for-10 performance from the beyond the three-point arc. Jason Gray (East Thetford, Vt.) had 21 points and eight rebounds in the loss and Richie Hackett (Barton, Vt.) had 12 points.
 
Asa Smith (Cheltenham, Md.) had a team-high six assists and four blocks for Lyndon and John Williams (Springfield, Mass.) contributed three steals.