BENNINGTON, Vt. — After four lead changes and eight score ties, Southern Vermont College took a final advantage en route to a 76-63 victory in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball action at the Mountaineer Athletic Center Tuesday evening.
SVC is now 2-0 in conference play and 8-3 overall on the year while Lesley falls to 1-1 in the league, 1-8 overall.
Southern Vermont senior captain Dolapo Olugbile (Laurel, Maryland) scored a season-best 20 points to lead all players, adding six rebounds in the win. Junior Casey Hall (Albany, New York) followed with 14 points, seven boards, and three blocks while classmate DeShawn Hamlet (Hartford, Connecticut) had 12 points and five rebounds off the bench. Mountaineer junior William Bromirski (Cambridge, New York) added 11 points with three treys, and sophomore Nate Goldsmith (Seat Pleasant, Maryland) tallied nine points and nine rebounds.
Senior Nikalus Oliver (Pembroke Pines, Florida) led the Lynx with 15 points while sophomore Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Washington) notched 10 points in reserve minutes. Sophomore Jacob DiDomenico (N. Providence, Rhode Island) scored 12 points, and senior Justin Rosa(East Brunswick, New Jersey) had five points, three assists and two steals to go with his team-best seven rebounds.
Both teams took relatively good care of the ball with LU owning a slight 11-10 advantage in turnovers. SVC edged Lesley just 36-28 on points in the paint, and the Mountaineers used their 19-9 offensive-rebound differential for an 18-10 nod in second-chance points. The Mountaineers shot a 45.5 percent clip from the field (25-55), and the Lynx were right behind with a 42.9 field goal percentage on 24-of-55 shooting.
Southern Vermont started the contest with high energy, jumping out to a 9-1 lead on an Olugbile layup. Lesley scored the next seven points, however, to keep the game in reach. Each side hit its share of field goal attempts through the first half with the Lynx seeming to respond after every Mountaineer basket. A Bromirski triple gave his team a 19-15 advantage, but a pair of Terrell jumpers tied the game at 19-19 with 6:23 to go in the frame. Made baskets went back-and-forth through the next few minutes before Lesley closed out the half with a pair of three-pointers during an 8-2 run, taking a 35-32 lead to the locker room.
Out of the break, the teams again traded buckets to keep the score close. An Oliver three made it 42-37 with 16:15 to play, giving the Lynx their biggest lead of the day. At that point, however, SVC scored eight straight with Olugbile chipping in six points for Southern Vermont to go on top 45-42. Not to be deterred, LU then went on an 8-0 run of its own to take the lead back.
The battle continued with Lesley going ahead, only to see the Mountaineers answer to either stay close or tie up the game. With Southern Vermont down 56-54, the hosts grabbed a bunch of momentum and went on an 11-2 run to go ahead by seven (65-58); Olugbile scored five points in that stretch with four more coming from down low. The last nine SVC points came from the charity stripe as the Mountaineers kept their distance, holding on for the 76-63 league win.
The Mountaineers are back at it on Saturday when they visit Mitchell College for a 1 p.m. league tip-off, and the Lynx are at Fisher College on Thursday for a 7 p.m. non-conference contest.