The Johnson State College men's basketball team dropped a 78-77 contest to fellow North Atlantic Conference (NAC) foe, Lyndon State College, Saturday afternoon at Johnson's Carter Gymnasium. Johnson State drops to 5-13 overall and 2-9 in the NAC, while the Hornets improve to 7-11 overall and 7-4 in the NAC.
The Badgers had three players score in double figures; sophomore Asim Khan tallied a game high 30 points, five rebounds and four steals. Senior Bryan Hickey picked up a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Ron Adrian also chipped in 17 points and six rebounds in the loss.
For the Hornets, three starter's compiled double digit scoring marks, JoJo Woodruff led the team with 27 points, five assists, and five steals. David Johnson chipped in 15 points and 5 rebounds, while George Carle finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds for the visiting squad.
The Badgers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead after Khan hit a mid-range jumper with 16:54 remaining in the first. However, the visiting Hornets withstood the early charge going on a run of their own to take a twelve point edge, 27-15, on an Iser Barnes wing three pointer with 8:33 left in the first half. The teams traded blows the rest of the half and at half time the visiting Hornets led the Badgers 38-29.
The Badgers came out strong to begin the second half, going on a 7-1 run after an Adrian 3 point field goal. The Hornets still led, 39-38 with 16:20 remaining in the game. The Badgers pulled back to even on an Khan 3-point field goal with 12:48 left in the game. With 5:32 remaining in the game the Badgers held a 7 point advantage. However, after a JoJo Woodruff steal and subsequent dunk the Hornets trailed the home squad 67-64 with 4:04 remaining. A little over a minute later Woodruff stole the ball again and fed the ball ahead to teammate George Carle who finished the play with a made jumper, pulling the visitors with one point, 70-69 with 2:35 remaining. With 1:21 remaining David Johnson's made jumper gave the visitors the lead back 74-72. A costly steal by JoJo Woodruff, who stole the ball for the third time in the final 5 minutes, gave the visitors a four point margin after finishing the play with a layup. The late game mistakes were too much for the home squad to overcome, as they fell to visiting Lyndon State 78-77 in a closely contested game throughout.
The Badgers will travel to Castleton, Vermont, Tuesday night for a 7:30p game against Castleton State College while the Hornets will travel to Poultney, Vermont on Tuesday for a 7:30p tip time against conference foe, Green Mountain College.