Johnson, VT - Vermont State University Lyndon outlasted Vermont State University Johnson, 82-78, in Saturday afternoon's North Atlantic Conference men's basketball showdown. With the win, Lyndon improved to 4-5 on the season, exceeding their win total for all of 2023-24. Johnson fell to 1-7. The game was the NAC opener for both teams.
The first half was tightly contested throughout. Raymond Baka's layup gave the Badgers the lead at 14-9 at the 13:02 mark. Lyndon responded with back to back three-point goals from Gregory Gonyea Jr. (Dolgeville, NY) and Victor Kukta Reyes (Fitchburg, MA) to take a one point lead. The two teams traded the lead several more times but with Lyndon leading, 25-22, Johnson went on a 9-0 run to go up six at 31-25 with 5:01 to go in the half.
Lyndon responded with a run of their own. Brett Roy (Newport, VT) started things with a three-point goal. Layups from Kukta Reyes and Chad Martin (Henniker, NH) put the Hornets back in front, then a Gonyea three and a Deshawn Ford (Fort Walton Beach, FL) layup extended the Lyndon advantage to six at 37-31 with 2:03 left in the half. After the teams traded baskets, Dashawn Hall's layup cut the Hornet lead to 39-35 at intermission.
Lyndon was able to maintain a slim advantage throughout much of the second half. A three-pointer from Wesley McIntyre (Troy, NY) built the Hornet lead to eight, 61-53, at the 12:01 mark. However Johnson ran off six quick points to make it a two-point game again. Lyndon was able to gradually pull away again, as the Hornets eventually took a nine-point lead following Matt Doyle's (Whitesbro, NY) layup with 4:57 to go.
The Badgers responded with back to back three-pointer from Matthew Carter and Lukas Sward. Then a Hall free throw and a pair of free throws from Carter tied the game at 76-76 with 2:59 to go. Gonyea's driving layup put the Hornets back in front, but two moire Hall free throws again drew the Badgers even with 1:18 remaining. With 52 seconds left, Tyler Cooper (Sterling, NY) drove and scored to give the Hornets the lead, then Lyndon came up with a defensive stop on the next Johnson possession. Two Martin Free throws with 19 seconds left put the game away for Lyndon.
Gonyea led Lyndon with 21 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Doyle chipped in with 15 points and seven boards and Ford reached double figures with ten points. Baka led all scorers with 29 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. David Greer and Hall scored 13 and 12 points respectively for the Badgers.
Lyndon will return to action on Wednesday evening when they host Norwich University for a non-conference matchup. Tip-off in Stannard Gymnasium is set for 6:00 pm.
