CONCORD, N.H. – NHTI Men's Basketball split a pair of preseason scrimmages against Busche Academy Saturday afternoon at the Dr. Goldie Crocker Wellness Center, earning a 55-54 victory in the opener before falling 72-61 in the second matchup.

Saturday's contests marked the Lynx's first competition against outside opponents in 2026-27, following last Sunday's White vs. Gold intrasquad scrimmage.

GAME ONE: NHTI 55, BUSCHE ACADEMY 2 54
NHTI opened the afternoon with a one-point victory over Busche Academy 2, holding off a late comeback attempt in a closely contested finish.

With the game tied at 46 and 4:18 remaining, Tafari Reid (Springfield, Mass.) converted a layup through contact off an assist from Kestin Johnson Jr. (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), completing the three-point play at the free-throw line to put NHTI ahead 49-46.

Following a Busche turnover, David Nicolas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) scored in transition to extend the advantage to five. Busche answered with a layup before Deejjay Jarmon (Chicago, Ill.) finished at the basket off a feed from Reid, giving the Lynx a 53-48 lead.

Busche responded with a three-pointer to pull within two before Nicolas drew a foul on a layup attempt with 1:08 remaining. Nicolas converted both free throws, extending NHTI's advantage to 55-51.

After the Lynx missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, Busche connected on a three-pointer with 38.6 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one.

NHTI held possession in the closing seconds before a missed three-point attempt from Nicolas resulted in a scramble for the rebound. Busche secured possession with 1.9 seconds remaining, setting up one final opportunity.

Following a pair of timeouts, Busche inbounded the ball with 1.4 seconds on the clock and attempted a deep three-pointer for the win, but the shot missed, securing the 55-54 victory for the Lynx.

Jacobi Cumberbatch (Raymond, N.H.) led the way for the Lynx, scoring 15 points, while Nicolas and Reid added 13 points apiece.

Assistant coach David Sheppard led NHTI from the sidelines in the opening matchup, facing a Busche Academy program where he previously served as head coach.

GAME TWO: BUSCHE ACADEMY 1 72, NHTI 61
The Lynx returned to the court for their second matchup of the afternoon against Busche Academy 1, with head coach Kieth Matte leading NHTI from the sidelines.

Busche established an early advantage, holding a 23-16 lead before extending its margin to 35-22 at halftime.

NHTI improved its offensive production in the second half, outscoring Busche 39-37 after the break, but was unable to overcome the first-half deficit as Busche secured a 72-61 victory.

The second-game scorebook included scoring contributions from sophomore captain Calvin Godbolt (Springfield, Mass.), Jeremiah Ikpasa (New London, Conn.), Bryce Ballou (Canaan, N.H.), and Colin Dube (Allenstown, N.H.) , among others, as the Lynx continued to evaluate their roster ahead of the regular season. Godbolt led the way for the Lynx with 13, Ikpasa and Ballou had 10 apiece, and Dube added eight for NHTI.

The two contests marked the first outside competition of Matte's second season leading the Lynx.

Both matchups were preseason scrimmages and do not count toward NHTI's official record or statistics.

UP NEXT
NHTI returns to action Sunday, Oct. 25, hosting Roxbury Community College in another preseason scrimmage at 3 p.m. at the Dr. Goldie Crocker Wellness Center. The matchup will conclude a stretch of three scrimmages in two days for the Lynx.