BANNER

Johnson's first half lead was thwarted leading by the Cobleskill Fighting Tigers as the Badgers fell 97-86 to SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday afternoon at home.

SUMMARY

Johnson opened strong, forcing early turnovers and converting in transition as Jaylen Brown scored the opening basket off a steal just 41 seconds into the game. After Cobleskill briefly pulled ahead 6-2, the Badgers responded with composed attack. Darone Frierson drilled a deep three at 16:37, and Andrew Phillips followed with a layup off a Jason Baker assist to give Johnson a 7-6 advantage.

Johnson's bench continued the momentum. Phillips grabbed multiple offensive rebounds to extend possessions, and at 9:31, Martin Askenazi buried a three from the wing off a feed from Mohammed Semega, pushing the lead to 18-13 and prompting a Cobleskill timeout. Moments later, Baker hammered home a dunk in transition to make it 23-17, and the Badgers continued to capitalize on Cobleskill turnovers.

In the closing minute, Jordan Chisholm took over, hitting a mid-range jumper with :48 left and then drilling a deep three at the horn to send Johnson to halftime with a 40-34 lead.

Johnson opened the second half with two strong finishes—Baker scoring inside at 19:20 and Semega converting a layup at 18:54—to go up 44-37. But Cobleskill began to seize momentum. A series of Johnson turnovers allowed the Tigers to pull ahead, taking their first lead at 12:37 on a layup, 54-53.

Frierson momentarily halted the surge with a three at 10:28, but Cobleskill answered immediately with a triple and continued to pressure the Badgers. Johnson kept battling late—Chisholm and Frierson each hit second‑half threes, and Baker powered through for multiple late buckets including a dunk at 3:02—but Cobleskill's offensive rebounding and 63-point second half proved too much to overcome. The Tigers held on for the 97-86 victory.

KEY STATS

Jason Baker: 26 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
Darone Frierson: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 6 three‑pointers
Jordan Chisholm: 17 points, 4 three‑pointers
Mohammed Semega: 10 rebounds, 4 assists
Andrew Phillips: 4 points, 6 rebounds

UP NEXT

The Badgers return to action Sunday afternoon, hosting the SUNY Delhi Broncos for a 1 pm tipoff.