NEW LONDON, N.H. – The Colby-Sawyer men's basketball returned to action after the winter break on Friday, dropping a contest to Wheaton College by a 89-81 final.

Rapid Recap: 

• The Chargers and Lyons traded three-pointers to start off the game before senior Conor Kelly (Charlestown, Mass.) knocked down his first collegiate three to give Colby-Sawyer a 7-3 lead. Wheaton tied up the game at 7-7, before the Chargers countered with a 7-0 run finished off with a senior Scott Lampron (Concord, N.H.) jumper. Lampron would stay hot, scoring the next seven points for Colby-Sawyer and helping the lead grow to 21-12 midway thought the first half. Junior Kadir Arca (Istanbul, Turkey) added another bucket to extend the lead to double-digits for the home team, but a 10-2 response by the Lyons cut the Charger lead to just three points. The lead grew back to eight points after Lampron knocked down his second shot from deep of the half, but another 11-3 counter knotted the game at 35-35. The Lyons took their first lead of the contest with 2:12 to go in the first half and held a single point lead heading into the break. 
• In the second half Wheaton started to knock down their three-pointers jumping ahead by a 49-42 lead. The Chargers responded with 14:50 left with a quick 5-0 run started by a senior Omar Boone (Colorado City, Texas) triple to cut the lead to a single basket. Colby-Sawyer jumped back in the lead with 10:30 remaining as Arca knocked down a three to give the Chargers a 59-58. After the Lyons hit another three to jump back in front, the Chargers responded again with a 9-3 run highlighted with six points by Lampron. After a pair of free throws by Lampron the Chargers led by a 77-76 margin with 2:27 left. The teams traded buckets and after four free throws by the visitors the Lyons held a 82-79 lead. The Chargers had a final opportunity on offense with 59 seconds left, but the jumper fell short and on the other side the Lyons knocked down a big three en route to the 89-81 win. 

Notes & Notables:

• Lampron led the offense with 25 points (9-15 FG, 4-10 3-FG, 3-3 FT), four rebounds and three assists. Kelly added a season-high 16 points (6-10 FG. 1-1 3-FG, 3-4 FT) to go along with seven rebounds and an assist. Boone registered 14 points (4-8 FG, 2-4 3-FG, 4-6 FT) and three blocks in his first start of the season. Sophomore Kevin Cummings (Portsmouth, N.H.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points (3-9 FG, 0-3 3-FG, 4-4 FT) and six rebounds.
• Aaron Williams led the Lyons with a 33 point (8-17 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 16-19 FT) 10 rebound performance in the win.
• Wheaton College outshot the Chargers from the field shooting 48.2% (27-56) compared to 45.0% (27-60) from the home team. The Lyons also were stellar from the three-point line shooting 54.2% (13-24) versus 34.6% (9-26) from the Chargers.

Up Next: 
The Chargers return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on January 3rd, when Colby-Sawyer travels to Albertus Magnus for a game at 7:30 PM.

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