Trailing by 12 points midway through the second half, the Johnson State College men's basketball team took it to the wire against North Atlantic Conference (NAC) foe Thomas College to pick up its first win of the season. With the 66-65 win, the Badgers move to 1-2 in the NAC (1-7 overall) and the Terriers slide to 1-2 in the NAC (2-7 overall).

Robert Hazard led the Badgers scoring 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. Asim Khan would follow earning 12 points while Ron Adrian notched 11 in the Badgers win.

Terrier Levi Barnes put up 17 points while getting 10 point contributions from Justin Murray and Owen Brown in the loss.

Thomas got out to a fast start, going on a 12-3 run to kick-off the opening stanza. Johnson would then come back to tie the game at 23 with 7:44 left in the half. After made free throw from Cory Chase and a layup from Hazard, the Badgers found themselves with a 26-23 lead with 5:36 to go.  Thomas went on an 11-1 run to close out the half 34-27.

After the break, just 26 seconds into the second half, Chase made a layup but was quickly answered by Terrier Adam Carlsen who made a three less than a minute after the Badger bucket. Johnson State would be down by as many as 12 with 11:46 left to go in the half before going on a 18-8 run to tie the game at 58 a piece with 3:48 remaining. Adams shot a three to take the lead for Thomas but Johnson State would not give up, taking the ball to the rim and getting fouled. With 1:35 left on the clock, the Badgers were tied again 63-63. Murray would make layup for the Terriers but that would be the last points they scored as the Badgers answered with a made free throw and layup to win the thriller, 66-65.

Johnson State will play Colby-Sawyer at home Thursday with a 7:30pm tip-off. Thomas College plays Me.-Presque Isle next Saturday at home with a game start time of 3:00pm.