Box Score AUBURNDALE, Mass. – The Norwich University men's basketball team dropped a 71-58 decision to Lasell on Thursday night. The loss drops Norwich to 6-11 overall and 3-8 in the league, while Lasell improves to 5-11 on the year and 4-6 in the GNAC.
Freshman forward Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands) led Norwich in scoring for the second straight game with 13 points, including four rebounds. Sophomore forward Kevin Ross (Ontario, Calif.), senior guard Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.), and sophomore center Josh Evans (Grafton, Mass.) each scored eight points for the Cadets.
Lasell was led by junior guard Richard O'Brien (Manchester, N.H.) with a team-high 25 points, including five treys on the night, while teammate junior forward Logan Liberty (Duxbury, Vt.) collected a double-doubles on 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Lasers.
Lasell wasted no time getting ahead early with a 13-4 lead seven minutes into the game before Hogervorst and Tullar made back-to-back layups to cut the Cadets deficit to five at the 11:58 mark. Norwich struggled to keep Lasell off the scoreboard as the Lasers would match each basket the Cadet made to maintain the 10 point lead midway through the frame for the 23-12 score at the 5:57 mark. After being held scoreless for 3:10 minutes since the last Cadet basket made, Tullar posted a layup, hoping to spark a late rally, however the Lasers, who shot 52 percent from the field in the half, would extend the lead to 14 at the 1:33 mark. The Cadets looked to close out the half strong as Evans and Tullar both made a layup to cut the shrink the margin to 10 points until Lasell nailed its sixth three-pointer of the half for the 33-20 lead at the break.
Norwich looked to get back into contention in the second half, but the Lasers continued its zone defense, holding onto the 10 plus points throughout the game. With five minutes remaining in the contest and Lasell leading by 15 for the 65-50 score, the Cadets battled their way through with Hogervorst adding five of the final eight points before time expired as the Lasers walked off the court with the 71-58 victory.
On paper, the Cadets shot 43.4 percent (23-53) from the field and made 33.3 percent (4-12) of its shots from the three-point line, while Lasell ended the night hitting 55.1 percent (27-49) from the floor and 47.4 percent (9-19) from beyond the arc. Both teams shot 66.7 percent (8-12) from the free throw line, but the Lasers had a slight advantage at the backboards, pulling down a combined 30 rebounds to Norwich's 26.
Norwich will continue its conference road trip on Saturday as the Cadets travel to New Haven, Conn. to take on 9th-ranked Albertus Magnus in the 3:00 p.m. GNAC matchup.
