Lesley University, 82 at Vermont State University (VTSU) Lyndon, 69

Records: 
Lesley University Lynx (3-17, 1-9 NAC)
VTSU Lyndon Hornets (7-14, 3-6 NAC) 

Location: Lyndonville, Vt.-George Stannard Gymnasium

Date: Friday, January 31, 2025

THE LEAD—Thanks to a double-double performance from Hezekiah Brown (Stafford, Va.) , including career-highs in points (21) and rebounds (12), the Lesley University men's basketball team earned its first North Atlantic Conference (NAC) win of the season over VTSU Lyndon, 82-69.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the opening moments, after the Hornets found themselves down one (7-6), Lesley's offense started gathering momentum and pushed its lead out to nine (19-10) thanks to a 12-4 run. While the Hornets pulled within four (19-15), the Lynx did not let the hosts get closer and earned their first double-digit lead of the night (26-15), leading to a Lyndon timeout. During Lesley's early 12-4 run, Malachi Howard (Winter Haven, Fla.) led the push with five points.
• Coming out of the break, Lesley's offense continued to give Lyndon fits as the squad grabbed its largest lead of the half (33-18) after a Brown layup with 7:39 left until halftime. However, the Hornets slowly picked away at the deficit and were within six (33-27) courtesy of a 9-0 rally before the Lynx called timeout. Gregory Gonyea Jr. spearheaded the late surge with seven points.
• For the last 2:35 of the half, Lesley kept Lyndon at bay and pushed its lead back to 10 by closing out the first on an 8-4 stretch for a 41-31 lead at the half. 
• At the start of the second, Lesley continued where it left off in the first and grabbed an early 11-point lead (50-39) after Tarell Joseph (Hempstead, N.Y.) converted an and-one opportunity. Despite the significant lead, Lyndon was able to pull within three (50-47) thanks to an 8-0 run that was led by Gonyea, who scored five of the eight points. 
• While Lesley was able to give themselves breathing room and went up 54-49 after a Tavon Rhodes (Dorchester, Mass.) layup, Lyndon pulled within two (54-52) after a Deshawn Ford layup with 10:38 remaining. However, Lesley responded the next play with a bucket of its own courtesy of a Rhodes layup which led to a Lynx timeout with 9:50 left and the squad up four (56-54). 
• After the timeout, Lyndon made it a one-possession game again when Brett Roy made a layup. Although Lesley would not let the hosts get any closer as the team once again increased its lead to 10 (64-54) thanks to an 8-0 stretch spearheaded by six points from Nathaniel Maldonado (Bronx, N.Y.) on back-to-back three-pointers with 7:41 left to play.
• From then on, the closest the Hornets would get was six (66-60) at the 6:27 mark, but the Lynx held off any Lyndon rally. They closed the remainder of the game by outscoring the Hornets 16-9 and secured the 82-62 road NAC victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Brown's double-double marked the third of his career and first of the season.
• Joseph, Rhodes, and Maldonado were Lesley's other double-figure scorers, scoring 17, 16, and 11 points, respectively. 
• Defensively, Brown and Christian Castro (Chesapeake, Va.) each swiped a career-high six steals.  
• Lesley's defense forced a season-high 25 VTSU Lyndon turnovers Friday night. 
• For the Hornets, Gonyea led all scorers with a game-high 34 points. 
• Friday's win marked the first victory at VTSU Lyndon in program history. The squad also earned its first road NAC win since 2007 before jumping over to the NECC the following season. 
• The win Friday was also the Lynx's first wire-to-wire win since 2022 (Dec. 10 vs. Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences). 

UP NEXT

• Lesley wraps up the 2024-25 season with a four-game homestand starting tomorrow when the squad hosts VTSU Johnson for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off.