Lyndonville, VT - Northern Vermont University-Johnson broke away from a halftime tie and went on to defeat Northern Vermont University-Lyndon, 89-82, in Tuesday evening's North Atlantic Conference men's basketball game. The Badgers improved to 11-13 overall and 6-8 in conference, while the Hornets fell to 6-19 on the season and 3-11 in the NAC.
Lyndon came out of the gates quickly and opened up a 16-8 advantage following a pair of Calder Horowitz-McCadden (South Burlington, VT) free throws a little over six minutes into the contest. The Badgers answered with a 10-2 run to tie things following a Raymond Baka putback basket. The Hornets pushed the lead back out to five points, but Johnson again answered, and Yeskin Walker Williams' dunk off of a Hornet turnover gave Johnson their first lead at 24-23.
The two teams then went back and forth, until back to back three-pointers from Peyton Olsen (Middleburgh, NY) put the Hornets back up by six with 2:37 to go in the half. Johnson again responded, scoring the last six points of the half to pull even at 40-40 on Mohammd Semega's layup just before the halftime buzzer.
A Maleek View jumper to open the second half gave Johnson back the lead, but Mondwell Bukle's (Pyeongtaek, South Korea) three-pointer put Lyndon back in front. View scored again on the next Badger possession, giving Johnson a lead that they would never relinquish.
The Badgers began to gradually extend their advantage until the lead reached double figures at 70-60 on a Samuel Stephens jumper with 7:56 left in the game. The Hornets were able to get back to within four points on two occasions, but were unable to close the rest of the distance, as Johnson held on for the win.
View led Johnson with a game high 31 points and eight rebounds. Bake and Malik Moore both recorded doubles, Baka with 14 points and 15 rebounds and Moore with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Yeskin Walker Williams and Romelle Watts both added 11 points and Stephens chipped in with 10.
Olsen paced the Hornets with 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Antonio Carlisle (St, Johnsbury, VT) added 22 points and Bukle finished with 16 points. Horowitz-McCadden recorded nine points and a team best seven rebounds.
Johnson used their size advantage to outrebound Lyndon, 56-43. The Badgers cashed in for 32 second chance points to only 10 for the Hornets.
Prior to tonight's tip-off, Carlisle, Lyndon's only senior, was honored for his contributions to the Hornet basketball program. He was joined by his parents and his girlfriend, and presented a gift in appreciation for everythign that he has given the program.
With the regular season complete, Lyndon now prepares for the upcoming North Atlantic Conference Tournament. The Hornets will open tournament play at top seed University of Maine at Farmington on Friday evening. Tip-off between the Hornets and the Beavers will be 5:00 pm.
