BOSTON, Mass. – The Norwich University men's basketball team trailed by just two points at the half and mustered 31 points in the second half but it would not be enough as Emmanuel College (2-8, 2-2 GNAC) matched a season-high with ten three pointers to earn a 70-64 victory over the Cadets (3-8, 0-4 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup on Tuesday night.

Sophomore guard Zygimantas Sirvydas (Silale, Lithuania) all scorers with 17 points in the losing effort and dished out seven assists alongside three rebounds. Sophomore guard Ryan Fitzgerald (Winchester, Mass.) scored 10 points and a rebound, while classmates Ryan Booth (Northfield, Vt.) and Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands) posted nine points each with Booth pulling down a team-high 11 rebounds on the night.

Emmanuel senior captain John Clay (Westport, Mass.) opened the evening with three treys of his own in the opening four minutes to help the Saints to an early 11-5 lead.

Both teams dialed it up from long distance in the first half, as the two sides combined for 10 threes in the opening 20 minutes.

The Saints led for nearly 12 minutes to begin play, until Sirvydas knotted things with a free throw and Fitzgerald converted on a layup and a free throw to give Norwich a 21-18 lead.

Emmanuel called for a full timeout to reset the troops with 6:43 left and the Cadets holding a 23-21 lead, but Norwich extended its lead coming out of the huddle.

A brief 8-4 run for the Cadets over a span of 3:10 gave the visitors the game's largest lead at the time at 31-25 with 3:33 remaining.

The hosts closed out the first half with eight unanswered points to take a 35-33 lead into the locker room.

Emmanuel freshman forward Will Jessup (Westwood, Mass.) knocked down back-to-back treys to open the second half only to have the Cadets respond with a 10-0 run for the 47-41 lead.

Emmanuel rebounded from the deficit as senior captain Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) led a massive 12-0 run to give Emmanuel its largest lead of the game at 53-47. Davis scored six points, a block, and two rebounds in the stretch.

The Cadets got a triple from junior guard David Hampton (Lebanon, N.H.) to cut the lead in half with 8:00 to play, but the Saints fought off any further rally to take a 57-52 lead into a timeout.

Trailing 60-56, Norwich had a chance to get within one possession, but sophomore guard Colin Cordero (Bolton, Conn.) took a charge to stop the momentum with 2:20 left. Junior guard Julian Diggs (Upper Marlboro, Md.) did his part on the offensive end with a floater and two free throws on consecutive possessions to give the Saints a seven-point lead that they would not relinquish.

Sophomore forward Alex Minetti (Wakefield, R.I.) did the most damage for Emmanuel, as he notched 16 points thanks to 5-9 from the field and 4-6 from long distance. Davis also did his part with six points and nine rebounds, along with an assist, a steal, and two blocks.

The Cadets will return to action on Thursday hosting Saint Joseph's College of Maine at 6:00 p.m. in another GNAC battle.