LYNDON CENTER, Vt. - Johnson State led for most of the first 36 minutes of the contest but the Badgers went scoreless in the final 5:24 of the contest to see host Lyndon State rally for an important 71-63 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) victory on Tuesday night in Stannard Gymasium.  Johnson falls to 4-15, 4-9 NAC while Lyndon improves to 4-15, 4-9 NAC.

Johnson was paced by senior forward Alen Turan (Essex, Vt./Essex) (pictured), his 8-10 shooting and 16-point, 6-rebound effort.  Sophomore forward Bryan Hickey (Barre, Vt./Spaulding) also scored 16 and grabbes six rebounds while sophomore center Billy Boyd (Walden, Vt./Hazen) chipped in with 10 points.  Junior point guard Andy Bousono (Philadelphia, Penn./Nueva Esperanza) dished out a game-high 10 assists on the night.

Lyndon senior shooting guard Ben Sackett was held scoreless in the first half but erupted for 23 second half points including five 3-point field goals to spark the Hornet victory.  Freshman Devyn Baranauskas scored 15 points on 6-10 shooting while junior Jason Gray recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Leading 63-56 following a Hickey 15-foot jumper, Johnson was unable to connect on their final six field goal attempts, despite finishing with a 48% team shooting percentage for the game.  The Badgers, committing 14 turnovers on the night, experienced three of those turnovers in the 4:34.  Asa Smith's floater in the lane game Lyndon a 64-63 lead with 3:49 left, a lead they would not relinquish.

Johnson ran out to a 20-16 lead, fell behind 26-22, but closed the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 31-26 lead into the half.  The Badgers would as much as an eight-point lead in the second half but could not hold on.

The Badgers step out of conference action for their next contest on Thursday night at Plymouth State University with a tip schedule for 7:30 pm.  Lyndon moves on to host Middlebury College on February 7 at 7:30 pm.