Badgers lose to Middlebury College

The Northern Vermont University-Johnson men’s basketball team fell to in state foe Middlebury College by a score of 83-37. The Badgers top performer was Robert Dubose (Philadelphia, PA) who tallied a game high 16 points in 30 mintutes of play.

The Badgers fell behind quick in the beginning of the first half and struggled to score. Dubose connected on seven field goal attempts to give him 16 points for the Badgers. Middlebury jumped out to a 13-2 run behind a three from long range by Joey Leighton. Leading 20-10, a 7-0 spurt, capped by a three from Perry DeLorenzo, gave the hosts a 27-10 lead with 8:51 remaining in the first half. The Panthers closed the opening 20 minutes with a 9-1 run, taking a 44-20 advantage into the break.

The second half continued to be a scoring stuggle for the Badgers. Hayden Tomlinson (Bradford, Vt.) scored six points for the Badgers and was second on the team in scoring. But Middlebury controlled the game in the second half scoring 39 points to the Badgers 17 points. Leighton led Middlebury with 15 points, while Alex Sobel scored 14 with 11 boards on 7-7 shooting from the floor, tying the school mark for field-goal percentage in a game.

With the loss the Badgers fall to 0-4 on the season while Middlebury improves to 2-0.

Strong second half pushes Castleton past NVU-Johnson

The Northern Vermont University-Johnson women’s basketball team traveled to Castleton University for a non-conference matchup against the Spartans on Saturday afternoon. The Badgers were dropped by the Spartans 63-33 in the lone matchup between the former conference foes as Castleton moved to the Little East Conference during the off-season.

The Badgers began the game at a slower tempo than typical as they looked to use the full shot clock to limit offensive possessions for the Spartans. Castleton jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but the Badgers persisted with a strong 2-3 zone defense to tie the game up with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Johnson found themselves down 11-9 entering the second quarter.

At the start of the second quarter, The Badgers looked to break the game open. With some timely shooting and on-point free throw shooting by senior Kaitlyn Brouard (Milton, VT) and freshman Alexandra Barry (Hopewell Jct, NY), the Badgers took an early 16-11 lead. Castleton stormed back to retake the lead. The Spartans went 7-8 from the line in the second quarter to afford them a 26-19 lead over the Badgers going into halftime.

Entering the third quarter, the Badgers were poised to cut into the Spartans’ lead. Castleton denied the Badgers after making offensive adjustments at halftime that found the cracks in Johnson’s defense, allowing the Spartans to extend their lead to 42-27 at the end of the third quarter.

With the start of the fourth quarter, the Badgers looked to speed up the pace offensively, hoping to catch the Spartans on their heels. Castleton would not be denied, hitting three 3-point shots in the quarter to break the game open. Despite Johnson playing some of their best defense of the season thus far, the Badgers fell short 63-33.

Six of seven active players scored for the Badgers in a contest where all active players saw a significant amount of time. The Badgers were led by senior Brouard with 10 points. Junior Lindsey LaPerle (Bethel, VT) and Barry followed close behind with eight points a piece. Barry was also the top rebounder for the Badgers with eight boards.

Badgers attend North Atlantic Conference SAAC retreat

The Northern Vermont University-Johnson Student-Athlete Advisory Committee spent this past weekend in York, Maine and took part in the North Atlantic Conference SAAC retreat.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is a group made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and policies that affect student-athletes’ lives on NCAA member institution campuses.

Senior Kait Boucher of the women’s soccer team, senior Kaitlyn Brouard of the womens basketball team and senior Austin Walters and junior Jesse Streeter of the men’s golf team were the student-athlete representatives that took part in the retreat for the Badgers.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee networked with other student SAAC officers from the NAC and discussed ongoing programming on all NAC campuses, sponsored by SAAC that brings education and awareness regarding relationship violence in addition to event programming to celebrate D3’s partnership with the Special Olympics, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary.