Box Score PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Norwich University men's basketball team gave Johnson & Wales (JWU) all it could handle in the opening 22 minutes of the game, but the Wildcats found their offense and rolled to an 84-48 victory to tie the longest winning streak in school history.
The Cadets are now 3-10 on the year and 0-6 in league play, while JWU improves to 12-1 overall and 6-0 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).
Sophomore guards Ryan Booth (Northfield, Vt.) and Jimmy Warden (North Andover, Mass.) scored 16 and 13 points, respectively. Freshman forward Chibuzor Ogbue (Framingham, Mass.) pulled down a team-best seven rebounds and came up with a steal in the loss.
Struggling to hit from the outside against the Cadets' zone defense, the Wildcats were limited to 32 points in the first half, Johnson & Wales shot 11.8 percent (2-of-17) from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes with the Cadets hitting 25 percent (2-of-8) from the same range.
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Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands) jumper two minutes into the second half pulled NU within eight, 32-24. From there, the Wildcats went on 16-2 run to open a 22-point advantage, 48-26, on a Quarry Greenaway (Westchester, NY) free throw. The lead grew to as many as 38, 84-46, on a Tom Garrick (Seekonk, Mass.) dunk.
For the second game in a row, JWU forced 30-plus turnovers as Norwich turned the ball over 32 times. Twenty-three of those miscues were the result of Wildcat steals. JWU equaled its season-high with 23 swipes.
Posting his second double-double in a row, and third in the last four games, was Greenaway with 23 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Posting his first career double-double was junior Anthony Jernigan (East Hartford, Conn.) with 11 points and 10 assists along with six steals, who leads the nation in steals.
For the first time since JWU's first win of the year, five different Wildcats reached double figures. Scoring a career-high 16 points, including 6-for-6 from the line, was sophomore Michael Kiser (Pike Road, Ala.). Next was Garrick with 14 points and six rebounds as well as a career-high six steals.
Norwich is back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 13 against Suffolk College for the 7 p.m. GNAC contest.
