Lyndonville, VT - The Vermont State University Lyndon men's basketball team picked up their most impressive win of the season, taking down North Atlantic Conference West division leading State University of New York at Delhi, 92-81. The Hornets improved to 6-13 overall and 3-5 in NAC play, while the Broncos fell to 8-12 on the season and 5-4 in conference.
The Broncos jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead on back to back baskets from Warren Davis and Lester McCarthy, before Chad Martin's (Henniker, NH) layup got Lyndon on the board. A three-pointer and a layup from Tyler Cooper (Sterling, NY) gave the Hornets their first lead at 7-6, but the lead was short lived as Davis put Delhi back on top on the next trip down the floor. Delhi would nurse a slim lead over the next few minutes.
With Delhi leading 13-9, Gregory Gonyea Jr. (Dolgeville, NY) scored on a driving layup, reaching the 1,000 point milestone in his Lyndon career. After an Isaiah Barnes layup, Gonyea scored again and Max Kocha (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) connected from three-point range to give Lyndon a lead that they would never relinquish. The Hornets gradually extended their advantage to double figures when Gonyea scored at the 1:51 mark. After Abdul-Jaleel Ibrahim connected on a three-pointer for Delhi, Gonyea scored again and Tyler Bergmans (Ferrisburgh, VT) connected on three free throws to send Lyndon to halftime with a 45-33 lead.
Bergmans scored the first 11 Lyndon points of the second half, as the Hornets continued to extend their advantage to as many as 17 points. A brief Delhi run capped by a Lester McCarthy three-pointer Broncos to within ten at the 12:41 mark, but Wesley McIntyre (Troy, NY) connected on a three-pointer to snuff out the Bronco run. The Hornets would then push their lead out to as many as 20 points with 3:58 to go before settling for the 11-point victory.
Gonyea became the fifth Lyndon player to reach 1,000 points since the program rejoined Division III and rejoined the NAC in 2008. Lyndon Hall of Famer Jason Gray (East Thetford, VT) scored 1,345 points in 102 games from 2009 to 2013. Another Hall of Famer, David Johnson (Washington, DC) scored 1,123 points in 73 games from 2012 to 2015. Zach Falkenburg (Bridgeport, NY) scored 1,249 points in 85 games from 2018 to 2022. Peyton Olsen (Middleburgh, NY) scored 1,176 points in 78 games from 2019 to 2021 and 2022 through 2024.
Gonyea finished with a game high 28 points on eight of 12 shooting and 12 of 15 free throws. He added five rebounds and four assists. Bergmans had the best game of his young career, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Freshman forward Deshawn Ford (Fort Walton Beach, FL) also reached double figures with 11 points and added six rebounds.
Ibrahim was the top scorer for Delhi, finishing wiht 17 points. McCarthy added 16 points. Davis had 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Noah Colin finished with 11, and Isaiah Barnes scored ten points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out seven assists and recorded four steals.
Saturday's game was played in honor of Ben Lyons, who was a member of the Hornet men's basketball team in 2021-22, and a Lyndon Music Business & Industry student whose life was tragically cut short last July while he was protecting his family from an act of violence. All proceeds from the game and the women's basketball game that preceded it went to the Ben Lyons Memorial Jam Scholarship, a scholarship that has been established in Ben's memory to support future Lyndon MBI students. Over $1,200 was raised in total.
The Hornets will play their final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday evening when they host Vermont State University Randolph at 6:30 pm. The game is a rematch of the season opener back in November in which the Knights came away with an 82-76 victory in Randolph.
