NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The Norwich University men's basketball team fell 68-46 to the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University on Thursday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action from Andrews Hall.

With the loss, the Cadets fall to 6-18 on the season and 2-14 in GNAC action, while the win boosts the Wildcats to 13-11 overall and 12-5 in league play.

Josh Cabrera (Providence, R.I.) led the Cadets with a game-high 24 points on 8-17 shooting, including a 4-6 effort from three-point range, and 4-7 shooting from the free-throw line. Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) added nine points for the Cadets, while senior Austin Wright (Tacoma, Wash.) contributed a team-high seven rebounds.

Prior to the game, head coach Paul Booth recognized seniors Cabrera, Wright, Ian Marquis (Brattleboro, Vt.) and Brandon Kuhre (Cornish, N.H.) for their contributions to the program.

Johnson & Wales' offensive effort was led by Quarry Greenway, who totaled 17 points.  Esaie Touze notched a double-double of 14 points, 12 rebounds and led the team in assists with three, while Dan Barbour also scored 14 points.

The Wildcats scored the first six points of the game and did not look back as they extended their lead to 10 points at 22-12 with 8:21 left to play in the half. Norwich posed a comeback by holding the Wildcats scoreless for the next 3:30 and tying the score at 22-22 with 4:51 left to play, but the Wildcats used a layup by Greenway and a three-point basket by Frank Robinson to open the gap to five points. Johnson & Wales extended their lead to 11 points with 37 seconds to play and led by eight, 37-29, at halftime.

Johnson & Wales held the Cadets to just 17 points in the second half and scored 31 themselves en route to the 68-46 victory.  The Wildcats shot an impressive 53.4 percent from the floor over two halves, while the Cadets connected on 29.3 percent of their field-goal attempts.

Norwich returns to action on Saturday as it travels to Emmanuel College for the last game of the season.  Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.