Cobleskill Mens Basketball Fall Short in NAC Road Clash at VTSU-Johnson, 90-69

COBLESKILL - Johnson, VT - The SUNY Cobleskill men’s basketball team fell 90-69 on the road to Vermont State University at Johnson in a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) divisional clash on Saturday evening.

Elijah Morris (Mount Vernon, NY) led the Fighting Tigers with an energetic performance off the bench, dropping 17 points to go with four steals, two rebounds, and two assists. Chrischen Chung (Poughkeepsie, NY/LaSalle) delivered a sharp-shooting display with 16 points, including four three-pointers on nine attempts, while also dishing out four assists and grabbing two rebounds. Jermaine Wheeler (Manhattan, NY/Marist) contributed a steady seven points and seven boards, and senior Devin Dennard (Elmira, NY) chipped in seven points to bolster the bench effort.

Cobleskill struggled to match the Badgers' red-hot shooting as VTSU-Johnson posted a blistering 61.1 percent from the floor and 60.0 percent from downtown, compared to the Fighting Tigers’ 34.2 percent field goal percentage and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc. Despite an edge in fast-break points (18-11) and bench scoring (36-5), the Tigers couldn’t overcome VTSU-Johnson’s dominance in the paint, where the Badgers scored 48 points to Cobleskill’s 32. The Badgers also narrowly out-rebounded Cobleskill 41-37 and capitalized on turnovers, converting 19 Cobleskill miscues into 16 points while limiting their own mistakes to just 11 turnovers.

The Tigers had a rocky start, falling into a 9-0 hole in the game’s opening minutes and struggling to find their rhythm against a confident VTSU-Johnson team. Down 23-9 midway through the first half, Cobleskill’s Devin Dennard provided a spark with a tough and-one finish in transition, cutting the lead to 23-11. However, the Badgers seized momentum late in the half, using their home-court advantage to stretch the lead to 45-23 before a floater from Quanire Greene (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) trimmed the deficit to 45-25. Cobleskill entered halftime trailing 49-29.

In the second half, the Fighting Tigers clawed their way back into the game with a spirited 10-1 run, narrowing the gap to 68-47 with 10 minutes left. Moments later, a flurry of three-pointers from Chung and Morris keyed a nine-point surge, cutting the deficit to 64-77 with just over four minutes remaining. Despite their efforts, the Badgers regained their composure, closing out the contest down the stretch to secure the win.

Cobleskill will look to bounce back at home on Tuesday, January 28, when they host Williams College. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Iorio Gymnasium.