NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Thanks to some clutch free throws down the stretch and suffocating second-half defense, the Norwich University men's basketball pulled out a 65-60 victory over the Johnson State Badgers on Wednesday evening. 

The game was tight end to end, featuring 7 ties and 6 lead changes before Norwich ultimately pulled away in the second half. An extremely clutch three-pointer from senior Joe Bertrand (Saugus, Mass.) with 28 seconds to go put the Cadets up by 3, and a pair of Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands) free throws with 7 seconds left sealed the victory for the Cadets. 

Norwich locked down the perimeter tonight, holding Johnson State to 14.8% (4-27) shooting from behind the 3-point line and holding the Badgers scoreless for the last minute and a half of game time. The offensive story was written by the Cadets' reserves tonight, as Jesse Davis (Woodinville, Wash.) and Ryan Fitzgerald (Winchester, Mass.) came off the bench in a big way tonight, leading Norwich with 15 and 13 points respectively. Hogervorst made his 2017 season debut, putting together 9 points and pulling down 6 rebounds. Shakeel Irvin of Johnson State led all scorers with 18 points on the game.  

The victory puts the Cadets into the win column for the first time this year, improving their record to 1-5 on the year. The triumph comes just in time, as the Cadets will look to ride the momentum wave into their first conference action of the 2018-18 season when they welcome Albertus Magnus into town this Saturday. The Cadets and Falcons will tip off at 1:00 PM in Andrews Hall.