The Husson Eagles allowed the Badgers of Johnson State to hang around late in the second half of Saturday’s senior day game and dropped their first countable NAC contest of the 2016 season 101-95. With the win, the Badgers advance to 8-13 on the year and 8-6 in North Atlantic Conference play.

The Badgers held their largest lead in the first half after an Asim Khan layup to go up 11, 38-27. Khan finished with a team-high 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the floor and six of seven from the free-throw line. Rahim Bunch played all 40 minutes for JSC, tallying 20 points, seven assists and seven rebounds on 50 percent shooting from the floor.

The Eagles came storming back in the final five minutes to take a halftime lead on the back of The Eagles lone senior Trevon Butler, junior captain Tyler Norris and sophomore Mitch Worcester. The trio accounted for all 16 points in Husson’s 16-4 run to end the half and head to the break with a 43-42. In a game that saw nine ties and 15 lead changes, the Eagles could not secure key rebounds and quality offensive possessions down the stretch to help their cause.

The most exciting turn of the game came when the Badgers, down by two points with three minutes to go, remained composed and dug deep to put up eight points, to seal the 101-95 win.

The Eagles are back in action next weekend as they play at Green Mountain Friday the 12th and at Castleton on Saturday the 13th while the Badgers host Colby-Sawyer for a 5:30 p.m. North Atlantic Conference game on Wednesday.