NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Cadets of Norwich University picked up their fifth Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory of the season on Saturday with a commanding 80-59 victory over the Lasell College Lasers in Andrews Hall.

Coming into the game, Lasell sat in the top three teams in the conference in three-point shots, makes, and percentage, so a key to Norwich defeating the Lasers was their ability to lock down the perimeter and stymie the Lasell three-point barrage. They did just that, holding Lasell to a mere 13-37 (35.1%) from behind the arc thanks to shutdown defense on the outside and disciplined teamwork from start to finish.

Things got off to a rocky start as the Lasers opened the game on a 9-2 run, but Norwich responded with back-to-back Tommy Fitzgerald (Williston, Vt.) three-pointers to make it suddenly 9-8. An ensuing 11-0 Norwich run capped by yet another Fitzgerald three-pointer had the Cadets up 29-16. A late run by the Lasers made it interesting again, setting up a 32-28 game at halftime.

Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.) opened up the second half with a long three-pointer, setting the tone for a dominating half of basketball for Norwich. The Cadets would outscore Lasell 48-31 in the half and not give up a single free throw attempt in the entire game thanks to their disciplined and patient team defense end to end. The buzzer sounded and Norwich walked off the court with the 80-59 victory, their eighth of the year and fifth within the GNAC.

Zygimantas Sirvydas (Silale, Lithuania) led the way for Norwich with 22 points and 8 rebounds, stepping up every time the maroon and gold needed a bucket to stop a Lasell run. Tommy Fitzgerald netted 15 points on 6-7 shooting from the field, along with 3 steals and 6 rebounds. As a team, Norwich forced 13 Laser turnovers leading to 17 points and dominated the paint to a 34-12 tune.

The Cadets are back on the court this Tuesday when they travel to Regis College in Massachusetts for their fifth GNAC contest in a row.