Lyndonville, Vermont— Northern Vermont University Johnson and Lyndon Men's Basketball teams opened their seasons at a cross-campus game at NVU-Lyndon's Stannard Gymnasium on Thursday, February 11. Neither team had competed since late February 2020. 

The Badgers dropped the opening day game to the Hornets by a score of 92-85. The Badgers were led by Robert Dubose Jr. who scored a team high 23 points. Ayodeji Shokeye contributed a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds and newcomer Romelle Watt rounded out the Badgers top scorers with 15 points.

The Hornets were led by Peyton Olsen with a game high 25 points on 9-11 shooting from the floor. Tyrese Harris added 21, Zach Falkenburg contributed 16 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists and Antonio Carlisle rounded out the top performers for the Hornets with 12 points.

The Hornets took an early 7-0 lead, fueled by a pair of Peyton Olsen baskets and a Tyrese Harris three. Dubose Jr. and Shokeye quickly responded for the Badgers and crawled their way back in the lead going on an 8-0 run. The Badgers continued to be impressive offensively leading 27-17 half way through the first. Both teams battled back and forth as the first half was coming to a close and the Badgers ended the half with a 40-38 lead off a last second layup by Samuel Stephens. 

In the second half it was the Badgers leading until an Olsen three gave the Hornets the 56-55 edge. It wasn't until the nine-minute mark that the Hornets would control the lead going on a 17-6 run and eventually closed the contest winning 92-85. 

NVU-Johnson led the Hornets shooting 45.6% from the field and 28.0% from behind the arc. But it was the Hornets who controlled the turnover battle forcing 19 Badger turnovers and only giving the ball back 14 times leading to 25 points off turnovers for the difference in the contest.

With the loss the NVU-Johnson men's basketball team falls to 0-1 on the season and will head to face Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday, February 13 at 3:00pm.