NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball team lost a 74-70 decision to New England College on Saturday afternoon.

The Cadets would see three players scoring 17 points in the game in freshman center Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands), junior forward Alex Preckol (Westford, Mass.), and sophomore forward Kevin Ross (Ontario, Calif.).  Ross would lead the team in rebounds with seven, while senior forward Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) pulled in six rebounds.

The Cadets (2-2) started the game hot from the floor, tying the game three times, trailing no more than one point before Jonathan Byrnes' jump shot sparked an 11-2 run for New England College (2-1) to give the Pilgrims the 29-19 lead at the break.

The Cadets would charge their way into the game with a pair of 3-pointers by Preckol to cut deficit to just six points in the opening minutes of the second half. New England would maintain its lead throughout the stanza, leading by as much as 10 points at the 8:42 mark before Norwich rallied back on a 19-8 run to trail by one, 64-63, with 3:18 remaining to play.

With time running out and the Pilgrims holding onto the 73-68 lead with 15 seconds on the clock, Preckol would make a layup before the Cadets shifted into full court pressure, hoping to force a New England turnover, but were forced to intentionally foul to stop the clock. The Pilgrims would make one of its two free throw attempts to push to the lead to four and held on for its second win of the year.

Norwich will return to action in two weeks to open conference play on the road at Suffolk University on Dec. 2 for the 7:00 p.m. tilt.