JOHNSON, Vt. – Johnson State College men's basketball picked up their first win of the young season on Tuesday evening defeating visiting SUNY Canton 76-71 at Carter Gymnasium. Johnson improves to 1-2, 0-0 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) while Canton dips to 1-2 overall.
Johnson received 21 points, six assists, five steals and five rebounds from senior point guard Andy Bousono (Philadelphia, Penn.) in the victory. Junior forward Bryan Hickey (Barre, Vt.) had his second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Asim Khan (Torrance, Calif.) tallied nine points and freshman guard Austin Robinson (Burlington, Vt.) went for eight points, nine rebounds, and five steals.
Canton's Michael Pulci (Staten Island, N.Y.) came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points to go with five boards while junior guard Khalid Vaughn (New York, N.Y.) and sophomore forward Xavier Fisher (Plymouth, Penn.) each scored 16 points with Fisher snatching a team-high eight rebounds.
In a first half that featured nine ties, the last coming with 3:45 remaining in the half at 28-28, the Badgers were able to close the stanza on a 9-2 run keyed by freshman guard Kwatrelle Blocker (Philadelphia, Penn.) who scored four of his seven points the final push of the half.
Johnson would score the first two buckets of the second half and take their largest lead of the game at 41-30 but, after swapping baskets, Canton would go on a 15-4 run tying the game for the 10th time on the night.
A pair of Pulci free throws would give the Kangaroos their first and only lead of the second half with 9:55 remaining in the game making the score 52-51. But Johnson would respond pushing the lead back out to eight points after a Hickey lay up making it 68-60 JSC.
Canton had one more push in them cutting the lead to one-point with :57 left to play after two more Pulci free throws. Johnson would go on to make 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch, two from senior forward Cody Camisa (Colchester, Vt.) with :12 seconds left to play giving Johnson the important four point lead, en route to the win.
Johnson will play at Norwich University in their next contest on Sunday, November 25 at 3:00 pm while Canton moves on to face Utica College on Wednesday, November 28 at 6:00 pm.