The Bennington Martens were bounced from the American Basketball Association playoffs in the first round Saturday, losing to the top seeded Binghamton Bulldogs 124-69 in semi professional hoops action.
“We just played a very great team with a lot of weapons and we weren’t able to sustain any kind of continuity that would bring the score closer,” said Bennington co-coach and co-owner Shawn Pratt. “We couldn’t hit shots and we couldn’t guard people. In this league, in the ABA, you have to be able to guard aggressively and we didn’t do that.”
Former Southern Vermont College standout Mike Pierre poured in 22 points for the Bulldogs, while Eric Edwards dropped in 18 points.
John Ryals led the Martens with a 10 point, 17 rebound double-double. Vincent Edwards also registered a double-double, scoring 10 and grabbing 12 boards.
The Martens earned the right to play Binghamton thanks to their 113-100 win over the New Jersey Knights on Friday. Xavier Boyd scored 30 points in the win, including seven makes from downtown. Tobias Holmes added 30 points himself along with five assists.
Bennington finishes its 2022-2023 season with an overall record of 12-18.
“Overall I feel it was a good season,” Pratt said. “Still got a lot more to learn as a team and as an organization as a whole. We would like to thank everyone in the community that was involved that came to the games. I want to thank all our sponsors and everyone involved. Thank you very much and we will see you next year.”