NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The Norwich University men's basketball team trailed by as much as 16 points in the first half but posted a comeback midway through the second half to notch a 71-65 non-conference win against Johnson State College on Sunday afternoon in Andrews Hall.

The win marks the first for the Cadets this season, who now sit at 1-2 overall.  The loss drops the visiting Badgers to 1-3 on the season.

Johnson State would open the game with a 12-2 run in the first three minutes and would extend the lead to 16 on a jumper by Bryan Hickey with 3:46 to play in the half.  The Cadets would outscore the Badgers 8-2 in the final two minutes of the half to cut the lead to single digits, trailing 38-29 as time expired.

With 11:17 left to play in the second half, Norwich's Tom McDonald (Groton, Mass.) would hit two free-throws to tie the score at 49-49. The Cadets would then go on a 13-3 run, powered by three three-point baskets by Josh Cabrera (Providence, R.I.).

The Badgers responded with a run of their own and closed the Cadets lead to one point with 3:22 to play, but McDonald connected on a three-point basket to put the Cadets back up by four. A fourth three-pointer by Cabrera along with two made free throws would extend the Norwich lead to seven. Johnson's Austin Robinson hit a layup with 15 seconds left, but it would not be enough.

McDonald led the offensive effort for the Cadets, posting a game-high 27 points on 8-16 shooting from the floor and 10-13 shooting from the free-throw line. He also added a team-best nine rebounds.  Cabrera scored all of his 15 points in the second half, shooting a perfect 4-4 from three-point range and adding 3-4 shooting from the foul line. Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) added eight points for the Cadets, while Alex Preckol (Westford, Mass.) chipped in with six.

Hickey aided the Badgers with a double-double, totaling 13 points and 12 rebounds.  He shot 6-16 from the floor and 1-2 from three-point range. Asim Khan totaled a team-high 16 points for the Badgers on 3-8 shooting from the floor and 10-10 shooting from the foul line.

The Cadets return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 27 when they host Colby-Sawyer College in non-conference action at 7:30 p.m.