JOHNSON, Vt. – The Husson University men's basketball team outscored Vermont State University Johnson 50-28 in the first half and picked up its third-straight North Atlantic Conference victory on Saturday afternoon in Vermont by a final score of 93-81.

In a rematch of last year's NAC championship game, which Husson (8-5, 7-1 NAC) took by a final of 90-59, the Eagles opened up Saturday's contest with back-to-back threes from junior Andre McCauley and sophomore Connor Heald to gain quick, early momentum.

Husson was able to build its lead up to double-figures to keep Johnson (0-14, 0-8 NAC) at an arms length and the Eagles would close out the half in a big way.

After a dunk from the Badgers got the deficit down to 11 with 5:42 remaining in the half, Husson took further control headed into the locker room by ending the half on a 16-5 run to carry a 22-point lead into the break.

Balanced scoring helped the Eagles on their late spurt, as seven different players recorded points during the run and no player made more than one field goal.

Senior Eric Ahlers led Husson with 10 points in the first half, in addition to eight rebounds, while McCauley and Heald added nine points each and senior Ty Henke continued to provide a spark off the bench with eight points.

The second half was more of the same for the Eagles, as they built their lead up to as many as 24 and were able to come away with the decisive victory despite the Badgers scoring 13 of the final 14 points of the game.

Heald posted a team-high 20 points to pace a balanced Husson scoring attack, as Henke added 11 points in the second half to finish with 19 for the game and Ahlers added his third-straight double-double with a 17-point, 13-rebound game.

McCauley rounded-out the double-figure scorers for the Eagles with 13, as Husson finished at over 44% from the floor as a unit, in addition to converting 13 of 15 shots from the foul line.

The Eagles outrebounded Johnson 38-33 and forced the Badgers into 13 turnovers for the game, while also recording 17 assists on 35 made field goals.

Husson closes out the weekend tomorrow afternoon when it heads to Vermont State University Lyndon for a 1 p.m. tip-off.