Burt and Nwokeji pace Panthers to non-conference win

            JOHNSON, Vt. – Senior Alex Burt (Dover, N.H.) scored a team-high 18 points and junior Uche Nwokeji (Lynn, Mass.) posted his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds Tuesday evening as Plymouth State University defeated Johnson State College, 77-56, in non-conference men's basketball action.

            Burt made 7-of-12 field goal attempts, including 4-of-5 from three-point land, to reach double figures in scoring for the seventh time in his last eight games.  Nwokeji connected on 6-of-7 shots in the paint while collecting five rebounds off the offensive glass. Sophomore Jack Preston (Nashua, N.H./South) also matched his season high with 10 points.

            PSU stopped a four-game slide with its first win of 2015, improving to 4-7 overall, while the Badgers drop to 1-10 on the season.

            Junior Asim Khan (Torrance, Calif.) and senior Ron Adrian (Schenectady, N.Y.) paced the Badgers with 18 and 17 points respectively.  Senior Cory Chase (Milton, Vt.) also reached double figures in scoring with 11 points while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.

            Plymouth State held a two-point lead (22-20) with just under eight minutes left in the first half when the Panthers rattled off 11 straight points to open up a 33-20 lead.  Nwokeji hit three buckets in the surge and Burt drained a three.  Burt connected on another three in the final minute of the half to put the visitors up 36-21 at the break.

            Burt scored PSU's first five points of the second half and Preston added a layup in the first two minutes as the Panthers extended the margin to more than 20 points, 43-22.

            Johnson State pulled to within 14 points, 50-36, around the 12-minute mark until Burt stopped the rally with a three. The Badgers got as close as 11 points, 53-42, following a pair of hoops by Khan, but couldn't get the margin down to single digits and PSU proved too strong the rest of the way.

            PSU continues road play Thursday with a visit to Lyndon State College for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. Johnson State also faces Lyndon State in its next outing, hosting the Hornets Saturday in a North Atlantic Conference match-up at 3:00 p.m. 

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