LYNDON CENTER, Vt. – Coming off a successful weekend, the Lyndon State College men's basketball team hosted Colby-Sawyer College in North Atlantic Conference action Tuesday night, suffering an 83-80 loss after a lackadaisical start.

Leading the Hornets (5-8, 4-5 NAC) was Josiah Woodruff (Washington, D.C.) with 21 points, three rebounds, four assists, and two steals.  Eric Vargas (Lowell, Mass.) dropped 17 points, dished out a season-high eight assists, and made four steals.  Kevin Love (Bristol, Conn.) added 12 points, including three monstrous dunks over Charger defenders, and six rebounds.

Patrick Coffey led all scorers with 23 points while adding seven rebounds and four assists for the Chargers (7-8, 4-4 NAC) who had all five starters score in double digits.  Dana Bean recorded a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds while Milani Hicks added 16 points and eight rebounds.

The Hornets looked out of sorts to start the game as the Chargers built a 13-2 lead, less than six minutes into the game.  The Chargers were up 22-11 at the midway point of the half before the Hornets really came alive as Woodruff and Charles Correa, Jr. (Prospect Heights, R.I.) combined for 13 points in less than three minutes to bring their team within three at 27-24.

The score stayed within reach as the half progressed but Colby-Sawyer ended the half on a 6-0 run to go into the break up 41-30.

The Hornets opened up the second stanza with back-to-back threes from Vargas and Raymond Monroe (Cranston, R.I.) to cut the deficit to 41-36.  However, the visitors answered with a 13-0 run for their largest lead of the game at 54-36.

Colby-Sawyer continued to hold Lyndon at bay as the half continued on, but Lyndon never gave up. 

Down 75-64 with 3:32 to play, the Hornets used full court pressure to turn over the Chargers and picked up seven straight points, whittling the deficit to 75-71 with 2:00 on the clock.  A layup from Woodruff brought the Hornets within one possession at 78-75.  Unfortunately, the Chargers would go 5-for-6 from the charity stripe over the final 30 seconds to hold off the Hornets for the 83-80 victory.

Lyndon will play a non-conference game Thursday night at Pine Manor College at 7:30 p.m.

Colby-Sawyer will host Thomas College Friday night to continue conference play with a 5:30 p.m. tip.