CAMBRIDGE, MA -- A potent Southern Vermont attack outscored Lesley Saturday night in Cambridge, besting the Lynx 101-85 in New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball action.
Lance Spratling (Pittsfield, MA/Taconic) poured in a game-high 34 points on 14-24 shooting, and Avery Mitchell (Schenectady, NY/Bishop Gibbons) posted a double double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Lesley's John Sanchez (Carson, CA/Saint John Bosco) led the Lynx with 23 points and six assists, while Grant Cobb (Plymouth, MN/Wayzata) added 16 points and Thorton Paul (Boston, MA/West Roxbury) threw in 14.
The Lynx and Mountaineers exchanged leads for the first five minutes before Southern Vermont pulled ahead and capitalized with a bucket from behind the arch by junior Avery Mitchell to give Southern Vermont a 14-7 advantage. A Paul jumper made it a 27-26 game with 8:51 remaining in the half.
Over the next five minutes Southern Vermont pulled ahead again on a series of layups by Mitchell and Spratling. The Mountaineers went into halftime holding their biggest lead yet, 52-43. Mitchell had 10 points and six rebounds in the first half, and Spratling lead all scorers with 19 at intermission.
Sanchez led the Lynx with 15 points and three assists in the first. Southern Vermont shot 51.2 percent from the field in the first half, outgunning Lesley's 50 percent shooting.
Upping their red-hot shooting to a 54 percent clip in the second, the Mountaineers opened their biggest lead midway through the period at 87-68. Lesley cut the margin to 12 on a Cobb trey, his fourth of the game, at the 5:00 mark, but Southern Vermont scored five straight points in holding off the Lynx comeback, heading home with a 101-85 victory.
Southern Vermont shot an impressive 52 percent from the field, while Lesley shot a respectable 47 percent. Five Mountaineers tallied double figures in scoring, led by Spratling's 34.
The Lynx move to 3-8 (0-2 NECC), while Southern Vermont advances to 10-5 and 4-1 in the NECC.
Lesley hits the road at Daniel Webster on January 18 at 7 p.m.
(Credit: Olivia Coiro, Lesley sports information)
