The Johnson State College men's basketball team notched a 60-45 win at home over fellow North Atlantic Conference (NAC) foe, Maine Maritime Academy, Saturday afternoon at Johnson's Carter Gymnasium. Johnson State improves to 4-11 overall and 2-8 in the NAC, while the Mariners drop to 1-14 overall and 0-9 in the NAC.
The Badgers had three players score in double figures; Ron Adrian led the badgers in scoring with 20 points, including shooting 4 for 8 from 3 point land, sophomore Asim Khan tallied 14 points and two steals and senior Bryan Hickey missed his second consecutive double-double by one rebound, scoring 14 points and pulling down 9 rebounds.
For the Mariners, Tyler Chiasson was only player to score in double figures, finishing the game with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Tyler Gibson, finished the day with a game high 13 rebounds for the opposition while chipping in 9 points.
The Badgers jumped out to an early 11-0 lead and never looked back. The Mariners fought through the early defensive battle and outscored Johnson State 19-17 the rest of the half. However, the Badgers still held a 9 point advantage as the teams headed into the locker rooms at the half.
The game continued to be a defensive battle heading into the second half. The Mariners cut the Badger lead to seven with fifteen minutes remaining in the game. After eight minutes of even play the Badgers finally broke through after a jumper from Adrian that extended the lead to 15. The Badgers would lead by as many as 17 points late in the second half and finished the game with a fifteen point advantage.
The Badgers travel to Randolph, Vermont Monday night for a 6:00p game against Vermont Technical College while the Mariners will host Colby College on Tuesday the 28th at 7:30p to play a non-conference tilt.