NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball team was unable to capitalize on a nine-point halftime lead against New England College as the Cadets dropped its last home game of the 2020-21 season, 75-71 in non-conference action on Saturday at Andrews Gym.

Norwich (0-7) played its best half of basketball in the opening 20 minutes of the game shooting 13-of-27 (48.1%) from the floor while holding New England College (4-3) to a 26.2 percent mark. The Cadets benefitted from a balanced attack as junior Donovan Lewis Jr (Savannah, Ga.) was dominant inside with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and a 4-for-4 mark from the charity stripe. The hosts also hit on 4 of their 10 attempts from beyond the arc.

Norwich would blow open an 18-16 game with a 16-3 run over a five-and-a-half-minute span to gain its biggest lead of the game at 34-19. Junior Samuel-Noah Osarenkhoe (Stockholm, Sweden) capped the scoring spurt with two of his game-high six three-pointers.

NEC would cut into the lead with a late run, but the Cadets were able to hold onto a 38-29 advantage at the break.

Sophomore Michael Tavilla's three-pointer at 18:01 brought the visitors to within 42-38 and looked poised to take the lead, however, Osarenkhoe splashed another three to cap an 8-2 run to regain the Cadets' double-digit lead.

Both teams struggled through the middle portion of the second half, but the Pilgrims were able to scratch their way back and tie the game at 54-54 with 10:11 remaining. The Cadets would run out with several mini runs only to have the visitors square the game each time.

Junior Jamal Allen would give the visitors their first lead since early in the game on a layup to make it 70-68 with 1:30 left to play.

After NEC hit on another make from the field to give them a 72-68 lead, Osarenkhoe would make good on a three-point attempt after receiving a bomb of a pass from junior Spencer Conatser (Reno, Nev.) to get the Cadets within one at 72-71. Unfortunately, that would be as close as they would get as the visitors closed out the game with free throws with Norwich missing its final two three-point attempts.

Norwich's 19 turnovers in the game proved too costly to overcome as the Pilgrims used the 17 points they scored off those turnovers to gain the final advantage.

Senior Calvin Cheek tied for the game-high with 20 points for NEC. He also added nine steals onto his NCAA leading accumulation. Junior Steven Fama notched 19 points while Allen tacked on 12.

Osarenkhoe hit six three-pointers for the second-consecutive game to lead the Cadets with 20 points. Lewis Jr. was an efficient 7-of-12 for 18 points and added three blocks. Senior Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.) notched an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double while adding four assists, three steals, and three blocks. Freshman Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) had eight points and a game-high seven assists off the bench.