JOHNSON, Vt. – Host Johnson State College saw visiting Plymouth State University surge ahead to a 65-50 non-conference win Thursday night. The Panthers improve to 6-14, 2-7 Little East Conference while Johnson dips to 7-12, 4-6 North Atlantic Conference.

The Badgers were led by junior Bryan Hickey (Barre, Vt./Spaulding) who scored a team high 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. 

The Panthers were paced by #2 Petey Skevas (Wethersfield, Conn.) with his 17 point, six rebound and five assist effort. Teammate Kevin Eisenberg (Moultonborough, N.H.) chipped in 10 points towards the Panthers' win.

Plymouth opened up the first half with a free throw to put one point on the board just 45 seconds into the first half. By the 14:58 mark though, Johnson took their first lead of the game making it 7-4 after a free throw from Asim Khan (Torrance, Calif./Torrance). The teams would battle back and forth during the remainder of the first half, but the Badgers would head into the locker rooms behind 21-30.

The Panthers maintained control of the second half from the beginning 8-6 run bringing the tally to 38-27 at the 14:50 mark. The visitor's offensive rhythm continued and with just 4:01 left in the game, the Panther's held a 10 point lead. A late second half surge pushed the visitors to their 17 point lead at the 1:04 mark. A pair of Hickey free throws closed the gap to 15, but the Badgers couldn't make up the difference and the game ended with a 50-65 tally, Panthers' advantage.

Both teams return to conference play when Johnson hosts NAC rival Lyndon State on Saturday for a 1:00pm tip-off while Plymouth State will host Eastern Connecticut at 3:00 pm on Saturday.