Lyndonville, VT - Plymouth State University pulled away from Northern Vermont University-Lyndon in the second half of Thursday's men's college basketball game and picked up an 88-64 non-conference victory. The Panthers improved to 4-1 on the season, while the Hornets fell to 2-2.
Plymouth started fast, jumping out to a 15-6 lead capped by six straight points from Kyler Bosse. Following a Hornet timeout, Gregory Gonyea Jr. (Dolgeville, NY) scored eigfht straight points to pull the Hornets back within one. After Bosse knocked down a jumper, back to back Three-pointers from Aidan Lopez (Jay, NY) gave Lyndon its first lead at 20-17 at the 10:59 mark of the first half.
Aiden Trapani's (Deltona, FL) layup gave Lyndon its biggest lead at 22-17, but a 7-2 Plymouth run capped by Elijah Swanson's layup tied things at 24-24. Giorgi Tsiklauri then connected from three-point range to put the Panthers back in front, and Plymouth gradually extended their advantage to 42-33 heading into halftime.
Antonio Carlisle (St. Johnsbury, VT) knocked down a jumper to open the second half. Gonyea followed with a three-pointer and suddenly the Hornets were back within four at 42-38. Tsiklauri's jumper pushed the lead back to six, then Plymouth converted back to back Hornet turnovers into scores to push the advantage to double figures. A Trapani layup and three pointer sandwiched a Swanson three, and Lyndon was within eight at 51-43 with 16:47 to go.
A quick 8-2 Panther run capped by Swanson's layup and free throw pushed the lead out to 16, but the Hornets made one more push. Baskets from Tristan Worlock (DeRuyter, NY) and Monwell Bukle (Pyeongtaek, South Korea), then a steal and layup from Justin Phillips (Phoenix, AZ) cut the lead back to 10 with 10:56 to, but a Bosse layup followed by seven straight points from Tskilauri extinguished the Hornet rally.
Bosse led all scorers with 30 points. Tsiklauri added 18 and Swanson chipped in with 15. Kevin Henry finished with nine points and a game high 10 rebounds while Swanson and Rylan Canabano eac dished out four assists.
Gonyea paced Lyndon with 13 points and six boards. Trapani was the only other Hornet in double figures, finishing with 10. Tyrese Harris Fort Benning, GA) handed out four assists.
Plymouth made 33 of 67 shots from the floor (49.3%), including 8 of 16 from behind the three-point arc (50.0%), as well as 14 of 18 (77.8%) free throws. Meanwhile, Lyndon was only 25 of 63 (39.7%) overall and only 10 of 33 (30.3%) from distance. The Hornets also hurt themselves by converting only four of 12 free throws and committing 20 turnovers.
Lyndon returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Wheaton College at 3:00 pm.
