NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The Norwich University men's basketball dropped a close 51-50 loss to the Monks of St. Joseph's College of Maine on Thursday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action, despite outscoring the visitors 23-19 in the second half.

With the loss, the Cadets fall to 2-9 overall and 0-4 in GNAC play, while the win boosts the Monks to 5-6 overall and a flawless 4-0 in league play.

Norwich's Gary Gladden (Boynton Beach, Fla.) paced all scorers with a game-high 22 in points on 9-for-18 shooting in a contest that never saw a lead larger than seven points.

The first half saw the lead change hands 10 times, as the two teams exchanged baskets for most of the half. The Cadets never led by more than one point, while the Monks used a Norwich scoring draught in the final three minutes of the half to bolster a five-point lead at 32-27.  

Norwich opened the second half with a three-point basket by Tom McDonald (Groton, Mass.) and a pair of free-throws by Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) to quickly knot the score at 32-32. The Monks turned the ball over on their ensuing trip down the floor, setting up Norwich's Nickolai Havoutis (Coral Glades, Fla.) for the go-ahead basket with 17:10 to play.

The Cadets lead would be short lived, as St. Joseph's scored the next four points to reclaim the lead. The Monks would maintain the lead for the rest of the game and opened their largest lead of seven points, 51-50 with 4:03 remaining on the clock.

Norwich responded to the Monks' seven-point lead with a 6-0 run powered by layups by Gladden and Tullar and a pair of free-throws by McDonald hit with 2:44 remaining on the clock. Both teams would be unable to net a basket in the final 2:44 of the game, despite Norwich's opportunity for the go-ahead following a timeout taken with 14 seconds left to play.

In addition to Gladden's 22 points, the Cadets received 17 points from Tullar and seven points from McDonald, who led the team on the boards with 10 rebounds.

The Monks were paced by Nicholas Jobin with 16 points. Steve Simonds added 10 points, while Matthew Medeiros chipped in with nine. Simonds also had a team-best eight rebounds for the Monks. Jerome Diggs dished out a game-high four assists.

Norwich hit 37.5 percent of field goal attempts (18-48), while St. Joseph's was successful on 33.9 percent (19-56) of attempts from the floor. Norwich also held a one-point advantage in points-off-turnovers, 10-9, but the Monks held a 22-14 advantage in points from the paint. St. Joseph's bench also contributed 12 points to Norwich's zero.

The Cadets return to action on Saturday, Jan. 11 when they travel to Boston to face Emmanuel College in GNAC action at 3:00 p.m.