Lyndonville, VT- The Vermont State University Lyndon men's basketball team won an exciting non-conference game against the Elms College Blazers by the score of 82-79 on Thursday evening. Lyndon improved their record to 3-5 in the season, and Elms College fell to 0-8.
Elms held a four-point lead and the ball with 31 seconds remaining in the game. After the Blazers missed the front of a one and one, Lyndon's Tyler Cooper (Sterling, NY) drained a huge three-point goal to bring the Hornets within one point with 22 seconds to go. Following another crucial missed one and one, the Hornets would take the lead with fourteen seconds left on a layup by senior Gregory Gonyea Jr. (Dolgeville, NY). Wesley McIntyre (Troy, NY) came up with a steal on the next Elms possession, Two clutch made free throws with 5 seconds to go by Cooper extended the Lyndon lead to three, and a final Blazer attempt to tie at the buzzer was off the mark.
The game was very tight in the first minutes of the first half, but the Blazers then would then sprint to a double-digit lead, 40-28, with 3:53 to go in the half. The Hornets made a late run to close out the half, however, and cut the Elms lead eight points to eight at intermission.
As the second half started, the Blazers would push their lead to fourteen, their biggest lead of the night, at 53-39, following an Andrew Ciaglo three-pointer with 18:09 to go. Lyndon would rally and cut the deficit to just one point with a big four-point play by Gonyea at the 12:04 mark.
The Hornets took their first lead of the game with 10:46 to go when Matgt Doyle (Whitesboro, NY) scored inside. Over the next several minutes it was a back and forth contest between the two teams. Elms was able to open up a four-point advantage on an Aaron Sanchez tip-in basket with 2:41 to go. Neither team was able to score until under a minute remained, setting the stage for the closing sequence.
The Hornets were led by Gonyea with 27 points. Doyle had a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds and Cooper also reached double figures with ten points. Gonyea and Victor Kukta Reyes (Fitchburg, MA) both dished out four assists.
The Blazers had three players with near double-doubles. Kishaun Cole was the leading scorer with 17 points and added seven rebounds. He was followed by RJ Mayfield who had twelve points and a team high eight rebounds, and Andrew Ciaglo who had twelve points and seven rebounds.
The Hornets will return to action this Saturday when they go on the road to open North Atlantic Conference play at Vermont State University Johnson. Tip-off will be at 3:00 pm.
