Photo Courtesy: Bill DiLillo Photography
Story courtesy: Rob Palardy, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Lesley University men's basketball team erased an 12-point deficit midway through the second half to defeat New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opponent Southern Vermont College 88-79. Mountaineers guard Lance Spratling scored a game-high 28 points with 10 rebounds but 25 Southern Vermont turnovers helped the Lynx make a second-half comeback.
Southern Vermont held a 12-point advantage with 10:46 remaining in the second stanza, but over the next five minutes the Lynx went on a 20-8 run to tie the game at 73-73.
Lesley's Alex Green hit a jumper, two of his team-high 21 points, with 5:43 remaining in the game to give the Lynx a lead they would not relinquish. Green was an efficient 10-of-13 from the floor with four rebounds, four steals, and two assists.
Lesley's second-half comeback was due in large part to the strong play of both John Sanchez and Jonathan Cruz who both scored nine points in the period. Sanchez ended the game with 15 points, six assists, four rebounds, and two assists. Cruz had 12 points off the bench with a steal and an assist.
Complementing Spratling's effort for the Mountaineers was freshman Derrick Cenicola and senior Joe Karnik who scored 17 and 13 points respectively on the night. Both players combined to go 6-for-10 from three-point range and were part of a Southern Vermont offense that hit 60.0% of their attempts from beyond the arc. Senior captain Chris Holland also chipped in eight points, two assists, and one steal for SVC.
Lesley improved to 5-10 with a 2-2 conference record while Southern Vermont dropped to 4-8 with a 1-3 conference record.
Southern Vermont will be back in action on Saturday, January 23 at home against Elms College starting at 3:00 pm.