BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Villa Maria College men's basketball team stormed back from a 21-point deficit to get back in the win column and stop their losing streak at four. With the 71-67 victory, the Vikings shift to a 7-11 record, while Bryant and Stratton-Syracuse fall to 5-11 on the season. 
 
Villa stumbled out of the gates and fell behind 6-0 before Raymond Sims put the team on the board with a layup. The team continued to struggle offensively in the first half shooting 11-for-39 from the field and fell behind 21-6 at the 11:29 mark and eventually 21 points as they went into halftime down 45-24. 
 
The Vikings began to chip away at the deficit at the 16:30 mark, when Trayvon Holt made a layup to cut the Bobcats lead to 19 points. Holt began a big run with a pair of free-throws and Jordan Heine made one of his own to put the team behind by 15. Heine converted a fast break layup before Jaelyn Hall scored a bucket to cut the deficit down to 11. With 11:01 to play, Villa was trailing 56-43 before they turned up the intensity. Holt once again started the run, this time with a jump shot and then Victor Fuller converted three consecutive layups. Jaylin Rose pushed the run to 10-0 with back-to-back free throws and put the team behind 56-53 with 8:38 left on the clock. 
 
The comeback was completed with four minutes on the clock after Fuller ran down the court and chipped in a fast break layup to even up the score at 62-62. The first lead of the game for Villa came at the 43 second mark when Heine stole the ball and Rose converted a three-point play to put the team ahead 69-67. After a miscue by the Bobcats, Holt took a contested jump shot the found the bottom of the net and it turned out to be the dagger as the Vikings took a 71-67 advantage with 14 seconds left. The Vikings locked down defensively in the final seconds and walked away with a 71-67 victory. 
 
Holt led the way with an 18-point, 10 rebound double-double in 39 minutes of action. Fuller chipped in 16 points, while Rose recorded 14 points and six assists. As a team, Villa shot 18-for-31 from the field in the second half and forced 13 Bobcats turnovers. 
 
The men's basketball team head on the road this weekend as they take on ASA College on Saturday, Jan. 25. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
 
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