JOHNSON, Vt. – The Colby-Saywer Chargers passed the Johnson State Badgers 82-61 in a hard fought North Atlantic Conference (NAC) win Saturday afternoon. The loss sees JSC dip to 7-11 on the season and 5-7 in the NAC while the Chargers advance to 8-9 overall and 8-3 in NAC play.
The Badgers were led by Junior Lester Alexander (Burlington, Vt. / Burlington ) who came off the bench to contribute 10 points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist. Cody Camisa (Colchester, Vt. / Colchester) and teammate Josh Reed (Sycamore, Ill./ Sycamore) both chipped in with nine points apiece.
Colby-Sawyer's Kyle Nelcon( Milford, N.H.) paced the Chargers, contributing a game-high 21 points and snagged five rebounds. Freshman Peter Donato (Portland, Maine/Portland) and senior Corey Willis (Easton, Mass.) chipped in 14 and 11 points respectively towards the Charger's win.
Colby-Sawyer opened the tilt scoring a pair of free-throws which were quickly answered by a jumper from freshman Asim Khan (Torrance, Calif./Torrance) bringing the tally to 2-2 with 18:57 left in the half. The teams would remain within three points of each other until the 8:48 mark when Colby-Sawyer's Nelson sunk a two-pointer bringing the score to 25-20. Nelson's basket fueled a 9-1 run, Colby-Sawyer's advantage. The Badgers worked to close the visitor's lead but headed into the locker rooms behind 28-37.
The Chargers took hold of the second half early and didn't look back. Willis's 3-pointer just forty seconds into the half started a fast four point run adding to the visitor's lead 44-28. A lay-up from Hickey ended the run, but Colby-Sawyer extended its lead to 13 over the next three minutes. The Badger's fought to shrink the gap but the Chargers' offense proved to be too much leaving the final tally 81-61.
Johnson State College will host Plymouth State University next Thursday, January 31st at 5:30 while the Chargers will travel to Plymouth State University Tuesday of next week for a 6:00 tip-off.