Lyndonville, VT - When the Vermont State University Lyndon men's basketball team begins its quest for the North Atlantic Conference Championship on Friday evening, they will be lining up against a very familiar foe, in-state rival Vermont State University Johnson. The Hornets and Badgers will tip off in a tournament quarterfinal contest on Friday evening at 7:30 pm at the State University of New York at Delhi. SUNY Delhi earned the right to host the first two rounds of the tournament by finishing first in the NAC's West division in the regular season.
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Third seeded Lyndon (8-17, 4-9) and second seeded Johnson (9-16, 6-7) will be squaring off for the fourth time this season. The Hornets captured the first two meetings between the teams by identical 82-78 scores, on November 10th at the Vermont State University Tip-Off Classic, and in a conference matchup at Johnson on December 7th. The Badgers came away with an 82-60 victory in the most recent meeting, on February 8th.
Senior captain Gregory Gonyea Jr. (Dolgeville, NY) led the Hornets all season before going down with an injury that forced him to miss the final three games of the regular season. Gonyea, the leading scorer in the NAC, averaged 21.5 points per game on the season and 23.7 points per game in NAC play. Senior forward Brett Roy (Newport, VT) was also lost to an injury, which knocked him out of the final two games of the regular season.
With their two most experienced players out of the lineup, the Hornets have gotten increased contributions from many different sources. Mid-year addition freshman forward Tyler Bergmans (Ferrisburgh, VT) is averaging 11.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Another freshman forward, Deshawn Ford (Fort Walton Beach, FL), the reigning NAC Rookie of the Week, is averaging 9.4 points and 5.8 boards, numbers which have increased to 11.3 points and 6.1 boards in NAC play. Senior forward Matt Doyle (Whiteboro, NY) averages 6.5 points and a team best 6.7 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Tyler Cooper (Sterling, VT) averages 8.6 points per game and has connected on a team best 49 three-point goals. Freshman guard Victor Kukta Reyes (Fitchburg, MA) also averages 8.6 points and has notched 63 assists.
VTSU Johnson has been led by senior forward Raymond Baka, who averages 19.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Matthew Carter is the top scoring newcomer in the NAC at 17.8 points per game. Mid-year junior transfer Jason Baker has scored at a 19.0 point per game clip since being added to the roster.
The winner of the Lyndon-Johnson matchup will advance to Saturday's semi-final and take on the winner of Friday's first quarterfinal between top seed SUNY Delhi and fourth seed Lesley University. The semi-final winner will play for the NAC Championship on Saturday, March 1st, at the home court of whoever survives the NAC East quarters and semis. East Division regular season champion Husson University will host the East first two rounds on Friday and Saturday.
