NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball battled hard in the first half but could not keep up as the Cadets fell to Albertus Magnus College, 77-64, on Thursday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tilt at Andrews Gymnasium.

The Cadets have lost the last three conference games and are now 3-12 in the league and 6-16 overall, while Albertus Magnus improves to 11-4 in the conference and 15-5 on the year.

Junior forward Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands) and sophomore guard Ryan Booth (Northfield, Vt.) each scored 12 points for Norwich. Hogervorst pulled down a team-high eight rebounds along with two assists and a block, while freshman forward Chibuzor Ogbue (Framingham, Mass.) added 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting along with seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

Four players scored in double digits for Albertus Magnus with sophomore forward Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) recording a double double after posting 18 points and 13 rebounds along with four assists and a steal on the night. Senior guard Dayron Caldwell (Bayonne, N.J.) scored 16 points off the bench, hitting a 3-of-9 from the deep end, while senior Marc Wilson (Jersey City, N.J.) and freshman Shontaey Lovell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Albertus Magnus started the first half with a 10-2 run in the first five minutes of the game before a Booth trey sparked a 7-3 run for the Cadets to trail by five, 17-13, at the 10:09 mark. Norwich make it a two-point game on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Steven Scott-Lopez (Peoria, Ariz.) before Booth nailed his second three-pointer to knot the game at 22 points apiece with 6:16 to play in the stanza.

The Cadets would tie up the game four more times in the next five minutes but the Falcons would close out the half with a James Marshall (Bronx, N.Y.) free throw to take the one-point lead at the break, 34-33.

Albertus Magnus wasted no time as Wilson scored eight of the 11 points in the 11-0 run in a span of three minutes to open the second half with a 44-33 lead. Norwich looked to get back into the game early but the Cadets struggled to find their rhythm and gave up 19 points on the 10 caused turnovers by the Falcons. Albertus Magnus led by as many as 16 points at one point and closed out the contest with the 77-64 win.

Norwich shot 14-of-25 (50.9 percent) from the floor and made just 4-of-14 from beyond the arc and 6-of-13 at the stripe. Albertus Magnus would hit 27-of-62 from the field but made 17-of-27 from the line as they hit 6-of-24 from the deep end. 

Norwich returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 13, with a road conference clash against Saint Joseph's College of Maine at 3:00 p.m.