The Colby-Sawyer College men's basketball erased a 45-40 halftime deficit and earned an 83-80 comeback win over Johnson State in a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) tilt, Tuesday evening.    

Colby-Sawyer improves to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in the NAC. The Chargers will step out of conference play on Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. game at Keene State. Johnson State drops to 0-10 overall and 0-4 in the NAC. The Badgers will continue a four-game road trip with a 7:30 p.m. tip on Friday at the University of Maine-Farmington.

Colby-Sawyer senior Peter Donato led all players with a career best 33 points on 15-of-22 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Donato climbed into ninth on Colby-Sawyer's career rebounding list with 534. Senior Jake Maynard recorded his third double-double of the season with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard Taylor Grande also reached double figures with 12 points.

Johnson State was led by an impressive shooting performance from senior Rahim Bunch. He made nine of his first 10 shots and finished 11-of-16 for 28 points. He added team-highs of eight boards and six assists. Sophomore Demetrius Slade was 5-of-5 off the bench for 12 points.  

Donato opened the game with a layup, but Johnson State would go in front by 14 after a Slade lay-in, seven minutes into the half. The Chargers pulled within four at 4:25 after Maynard completed a three-point play. Trailing by seven with less than a minute to play, Colby-Sawyer received a good jumper from senior Wol Majong to go into the break behind 45-40. The Badgers shot 53.3 percent from the floor and made 5-of-10 treys. Colby-Sawyer used a 21-13 edge on the glass to outscore the visitors 13-4 in second chance points.

Colby-Sawyer came back to take a 53-51 lead four minutes into the second half after Donato converted on a three-point play. The teams then battled back and forth for the next several minutes before the Chargers held their largest lead of the game at 75-70 with 6:47 left to play. Johnson State senior Asim Khan knotted the game at 77-77 with a layup with less than three minutes to play. Khan finished with 15 points. Slade then went 1-for-2 from the line to give the Badgers a one point lead, but on the ensuing possession freshman Milani Hicks gave the Chargers a lead with a one-handed put back off the glass. A Donato layup pushed the lead to three, but Khan connected a pair of free throws to make it 81-80 in favor of the Chargers. With the shot clock winding down and the game clock reading 20 seconds, Jake Maynard hit a jumper from the elbow to secure an 83-80 victory.

Colby-Sawyer shot 50 percent from the floor, while the Badgers finished at 48.3 percent. The Chargers scored 58 points in the paint.