Medford, MA - Vermont State University Lyndon sprinted to a 15-point halftime lead on the way to a 94-72 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball victory over Lesley University on Saturday afternoon. It was Lyndon's second win over Lesley in as many days, and lifted the Hornet record to 3-19 overall and 3-9 in the NAC. Lesley fell too 4-18 on the season and 2-10 in conference.
Gregory Gonyea Jr. (Dolgeville, NY) scored off of the opening tap to put Lyndon in front. Peyton Olsen (Middleburgh, NY) followed with a three-pointer to give the Hornets a quick 5-0 lead. Lesley's Madison McCall and DJ Alexander answered with back to back threes to put the Lynx in front, but a Chad Martin (Henniker, NH) basket gave Lyndon back the advantage and the Hornets would never trail again. Six straight points from Olsen pushed the lead to seven, then the Hornets would maintain a single digit advantage for the next several minutes.
With Lyndon leading, 19-13, Gonyea connected on a jump shot. Tavarius Vance (Barre, VT) scored at the rim to push the advantage into double digits, then with Owen Traynor's (Rutland, VT) three-pointer, the Hornets doubled up the Lynx at 26-13 with 12:10 to go in the first half. Mondwell Bukle (Fayetteville, NC) added a free throw before Jaden Phillips scored inside for Lesley to halt the Hornet run. The Hornets continued to pull away, however, and when Luke Warner (Oswego, NY) drained a three-pointer, Lyndon had its biggest lead of the opening half at 40-23. A pair of Malachi Howard free throws cut the Lyndon lead to 15 at intermission.
The two teams battled on even footing in the early minutes of the second half. Isaac McCann (Phoenix, AZ) converted a four-point play at the 18:57 mark to put the Hornets in front by 17. Lesley answered with an 11-0, capped by a Kai Bruuidge three-pointer that cut the Lyndon lead to 44-38. A Bukle three followed by a Traynor three off of a Lynx turnover built the lead back to double figures and the Hornets pulled away from there.
Gonyea scored a game high 25 points on 10/18 shooting to lead the Hornets. He also pulled down eight rebounds. Vance battled through foul trouble to finish with a career high 17 points on 6/8 shooting, including 3/5 from distance. Traynor also reached double figures with 14 points and added five rebounds. McCann grabbed a game high ten rebounds and Olsen dished out four assists.
Howard scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half to pace Lesley. McCall and Alexander also finished in double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively.
The Hornets will try to keep their playoff hopes alive next weekend when they wrap up NAC play with a pair of games at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, The Hornets and Owls will tip off at 5:30 pm on Friday and again at 1:00 pm on Saturday.
