NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball team demonstrated it can stick with some of the best teams in the Northeast for parts of Sunday's game, but ultimately suffered a 70-60 loss in the back end of the home-and-home series against Clarkson University at Andrews Gym on Sunday afternoon.

Samuel-Noah Osarenkhoe (Stockholm, Sweden) got Norwich (0-6) on the board with what would be the first of many three-pointers on the day. Clarkson (5-3) responded with a 13-2 run to race ahead in the early going. The Golden Knights extended the lead to 22-11 after a three-pointer from senior Jason Phelps with 9:54 remaining in the opening frame.

Norwich spread its offense in the half-court keeping shooters out wide on the wings and demonstrated terrific ball movement as the period wound down. Osarenkhoe was the primary benefactor as he drained three more triples down the stretch to bring the Cadets within three at 27-24 at the 4:42 mark.

After junior Reese Swedberg laid in a tough shot from in close for Clarkson, Norwich junior Tayjaun McKenzie (Boston, Mass.) brought the hosts to within two at 31-29 with a jumper and a trey. On the following possession, the Cadets forced the visitors into a turnover and senior Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.) knocked down a jumper to knot the game at 31-31 heading into the break.

The start of the second half saw the Golden Knights re-establish a double-digit lead as they opened the second half with a 10-0 run capped by a sophomore Dante Joefield jumper.

Back-to-back layups from junior Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) and Booth would whittle the lead down to 41-35 at the 13:21 mark. Two subsequent threes by Clarkson's senior Roburt Welch and a lay-in by Swedberg pushed the visitors' lead up to 14 points with 11:46 left to play causing the Cadets into a timeout.

Norwich was only able to reduce the lead to 10 just before the final horn as senior Jesse Davis (Woodinville, Wash.) sunk a deep three-pointer to finalize the scoring.

Swedberg was a tough matchup for the Cadets down low in the post as he led the Golden Knights with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Phelps contributed 12 points courtesy of three makes from beyond the arc, while junior Chris Hulbert netted 10 but was just 4-of-16 from the field.

Osarenkhoe was perfect from the floor en route to a career-best 26 points on 9-of-9 shooting, which included a 6-of-6 mark from three-point land and was 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. No other Cadet scored in double figures as Lewis Jr., Booth, and junior Caleb Casinas (Aiea, Hawaii) all scored six.

Norwich will engage in its last series of the season against New England College next weekend when the Cadets host the Pilgrims on Saturday at 1 p.m. before closing the season on the road at NEC at 1 p.m. on Sunday.