CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Southern Vermont College used a 15-2 run to open the second half and never looked back as the Mountaineers downed Lesley University 77-46 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball action Saturday night at the Nicholas Athletic Center.
With the win, SVC secures the regular season sweep over the Lynx as the Mountaineers improve to 16-3 on the year and a perfect 10-0 in NECC play. The loss drops Lesley to 2-16 on the season and 2-7 in the conference.
After holding a 28-21 edge at the break, the Mountaineers came out screaming as an alley-oop from junior William Bromirski (Cambridge, New York) to senior Dolapo Olugbile (Laurel, Maryland) sparked the run. That was followed by two consecutive SVC steals which turned into buckets as the guests scored six points in the opening 36 seconds of the second half. The streak gave the Mountaineers a 20-point cushion at 43-23 with just over 13 minutes to play. SVC would extend its lead to as many as 35 over the course of the half.
SVC junior DeShawn Hamlet (Hartford, Connecticut) led four Mountaineers in double-figures with his game-high 20 points off the bench. Bromirski added 11 points while sophomore Davante Jordan (Great Mills, Maryland) and junior Casey Hall (Albany, N.Y.) each chipped in with 10. Hall fell one rebound shy of a double-double as he corralled a team-best nine boards.
Lesley senior Justin Rosa (East Brunswick, New Jersey) led the Lynx with 17 points while adding five rebounds and a game-high three assists to his line. Sophomore Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Massachusetts) knocked down three triples on his way to 11 points while fellow sophomores Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Washington), Jacob DiDomenico (N. Providence, Rhode Island), and junior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Florida) each finished with six. DiDomenico grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Blanchard scored 11 of Lesley's first 13 points as the Lynx jumped out to a 13-8 edge with 12:59 to go in the first half. From there, SVC's defense locked down and held the Lynx scoreless over the next six minutes and used a 12-0 spurt to claim a 20-13 lead. The Mountaineers would not trail again in the game.
The Mountaineers dominated down low as they held a 49-26 advantage on the boards and outscored the Lynx 38-16 in the paint. SVC finished the game shooting at an even 50 percent clip including hitting on 62 percent of its shots in the second half while the Lynx struggled from the floor, hitting just 27 percent from the field.
Both teams are back in conference action on Tuesday as Southern Vermont hosts Newbury College at 8 p.m. while Lesley visits Wheelock College for the same time.