BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College men's basketball team concluded its 2018 fall semester and a three-game home stand Thursday night with a 75-46 non-conference win over Northern Vermont University-Johnson at the Mountaineer Athletic Center.

SVC pulled away in the end of the first half to bring a 37-25 lead into the locker room. The Mountaineers then topped Johnson by 17 in the second period to walk away with their fourth-straight win.

Southern Vermont (7-2) is now off for its winter break; the Mountaineers will resume their schedule in 2019 with a 7 p.m. non-conference contest at Mass. College of Liberal Arts on Wednesday, January 2.

Senior Josh Borders (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)—a four-year starter for SVC—recorded his first collegiate double-double as he notched 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Classmate Andre Hodo (Silver Spring, Md.) had a team-best 17 points, and he added nine rebounds, five steals, and three assists to his line. Sophomore Donnell Frayer Jr. (Upper Marlboro, Md.) totaled 12 points and eight boards while senior Kyle Depollar (Rockville, Md.) posted 10 points and five rebounds.

The Mountaineers racked up a 48-32 advantage in rebounds to outscore the Badgers 17-4 in second-chance points. SVC also tallied a 15-7 upper hand in points off turnovers.

The early going was a back-and-forth contest as there were six lead changes in the first seven minutes. Junior Damon Daniel (Gaithersburg, Md.) then hit a trey to tie it at 12-12 and spark a 14-0 surge; Frayer Jr. went 4-4 from the line in that stretch while freshman Dylan Morris-Gray (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) knocked down a shot from beyond the arc. The Badgers would never get their deficit to single digits the rest of the way as SVC went into the break on top by 12.

Borders scored four of nine unanswered points early in the second half as the Mountaineers pushed it to a 52-31 lead midway through the stanza. Southern Vermont then went on an 11-2 run—highlighted by four Borders free throws and another Morris-Gray 3-pointer—to put it out of reach for Johnson.

Morris-Gray and Daniel finished with eight and seven points, respectively. SVC finished 21-24 from the line—the Mountaineers' 87.5 free throw percentage being the team's best on at least 20 attempts since January 19, 2017 (18-20 against Elms College).

– #LetsGoSVC –