STANDISH, Maine – The Norwich University men's basketball team couldn't stay ahead through the second half, falling 91-64 to St. Joseph's College of Maine in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Thursday evening.

The loss drops Norwich to 6-9 overall and 3-6 in the league, while St. Joseph's improves to 8-7 on the year and 6-3 in the GNAC.

Freshmen Ryan Booth (Northfield, Vt.) and Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands) both scored 17 points apiece to lead the Cadets, while sophomore Kevin Ross (Ontario, Calif.) contributed nine points and a team-high six rebounds on the night.

St. Joseph drew first blood on a pair of Quinn Richardson-Newton's layups before Hogervorst answered quickly for Norwich with a 3-pointer in the Cadet's first possession of the contest. The Monks would get ahead by four before the Cadets responded with another 3-pointer, this time from Ross, however St. Joseph would converted the next four possessions for a 10-0 run to make it 17-6 at the 13:09 mark.

Norwich quickly rebounded from their mistakes as Booth nailed a trio of bombers from beyond the arc, shrinking the Monk's lead down to one point, 20-19, at the halfway mark of the frame. St. Joseph would go on an 8-0 run before the Cadets rallied from behind once again with Hogervorst scoring three consecutive baskets before Ross made a layup at the 5:07 mark with the Maroon and Gold now trailing by just one point.

The Cadets remained hot outside of the perimeter as Joe Betrand (Saugus, Mass.) and Booth nailed back-to-back long shots to knot the game at 35 points apiece with 2:33 remaining. St. Joseph would close out the frame with a pair of threes of their own before putting in a layup for the 43-35 score. Norwich made a final statement before the buzzer with Booth nailing his fifth three-point shot of the half to close out the frame with the Cadets trailing by five for the 43-38 score.

The second half started with a back and forth battle with Cadets matching each basket the Monks made in the first four minutes before a Norwich layup from Ross narrowed the margin to two. St. Joseph would respond with back-to-back threes before adding another pair of threes after a Norwich's basket for the 61-48 lead at the 12:39 mark. 

The barrage of baskets continued as the Monks' utilized four three-pointers in the next six minutes as the lead swelled to 22 points for the 80-58 score at the 6:09 mark. Norwich would attempt a comeback but the Cadets struggled to put the ball into the basket as St. Joseph continued to pile up the points to put the game out of reach for the 91-64 decision.

Despite shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, the Cadets struggles showed in the second half, hitting just 39.1 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from the three-point line. 

St. Joseph would hit 54.1 percent from the floor and shot an impressive 59.3 percent from the beyond the arc with senior guard Steve Simonds going 11-for-15 from the three-point line to finish the night with a team-high 30 points and nine rebounds for the Monks.

Norwich will return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 24 when they play host to GNAC foe Johnson & Wales at 3:00 p.m.