Badgers open half with 29-11 spurt to down visiting Mariners

JOHNSON, Vt. (February 12, 2010) – Johnson State College outscored visiting Maine Maritime Academy 29-11 over the first nine minutes of the first half to gain control of a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's basketball contest and earn a 65-55 victory at Carter Gym on Friday. The win is the third consecutive and fourth in five games for the surging Badgers who move to 8-14 overall and 4-7 in the NAC. MMA falls to 5-17 overall and 1-10 in the NAC.

Johnson was led by senior guard Leandro Martinez (Philadelphia, Penn./Holy Ghost) who netted a game-high 23 points on 8-11 shooting including a 5-6 effort from behind the 3-point arc. Rob Key II (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) added 11 points while freshman Andy Bousono (Philadelphia, Penn./Nueva Esperanza) tossed in 10 points and senior Nate Dodge (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) just missed a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.

The Mariners received 15 points from Ben Russell (Farmington, Maine) while senior Jarred Sternbergh (Jonesboro, Maine) chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds and Tyler Pineo (Corinth, Maine) scored 11 points.

Johnson will host Husson University tomorrow at 4:00 pm on senior day when four JSC seniors will play in their last regular season home game; Dodge, Martinez, Simon Clement (Albany, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) and Paul Elmendorf Jr. (Waterbury, Conn./Sacred Heart). MMA will travel to play at Lyndon State tomorrow with tip also at 2:00 pm.