PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.—The Norwich University men's basketball team dropped a 69-59 decision to York (N.Y.) College in the season opener at the Cardinal Classic Tournament hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh. The Cadets will move on to the consolation round of the tournament, taking on Sage at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow.

York opened the game with a 9-0 run spanning the first 7:50 of the game, but the Cadets responded with a 9-3 run of their own to trail by just three, 12-9, with seven minutes left to play in the first half. York would extend its lead to as much as 10 points in the final minutes of the half, but the Cadet did not allow York to break away and trailed just 30-29 at half.

York capitalized on 45.2 percent shooting in the second half to extend the gap, and a made free-throw shot by York's Tony Vail at the 12:41 mark gave them their biggest lead of 14 points with a score of 51-37.  The Cadets would try to chip away at the deficit but ran out of time, solidifying the 69-59 decision.

Sophomore Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) led the Cadets with a team-high 22 points on 10-14 shooting including 2-4 from three-point range.  He also contributed six rebounds, a team-high three assists, one block and two steals. Freshman Jimmy Warden (North Andover, Mass.) aided Norwich with 14 points and five rebounds, while junior Tom McDonald (Groton, Mass.) scored eight points. 

The Cadets connected for 36.8 percent shooting from field goal range and hit 73.3 percent of their 15 attempted free throws.

Vail was the top scorer for York, totaling 22 points on 9-17 shooting. Donald Rodriguez contributed 15 points for York, followed by Shamir Wilkinson with nine points.

York averaged 39.4 percent from field goal range, including a 23.8 shooting percentage from three-point range.