NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball team battled until the end in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest Tuesday night against the Saints of Emmanuel College, 75-71.

Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.) had 11 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the game, and Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) shot 50 percent from the field (6-for-12) registering 13 points on the scoresheet. Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) shot 66.7 percent from the field on his way to a 12-point night.

At the beginning of the matchup, Norwich was able to gather an eight-point lead in the opening 4:31 of the game, gathering a 11-3 lead. Emmanuel recovered enough to cut the lead to five, after Bryant Ciccio hit a three-pointer.

With 7:39 remaining in the opening half, Lewis Jr. hit a jumper that helped spark an 8-2 run that allowed the Cadets to take a 12-point advantage.  The Saints did not waiver as they came back to pulled back to within four with 1:31 remaining in the first half. With the Cadets up 39-33, the Saints' Devin Pulsifer got a three-point jumper up before the buzzer to end the half, knocking it down to go into halftime down three.

Emmanuel opened the second half by scoring the first seven points, taking a 43-39 lead, a lead. Norwich evened things up at 43-43 with a layup by Booth.  Emmanuel would take a lead shortly after, that they would extend up to 10 with 4:50 remaining in the contest.

Caleb Casinas (Aiea, Hawaii) hit a three-pointer with 3:55 remaining to help the Cadets to begin cutting into the lead, seven of the next nine points, cutting the deficit to five. Olivero hit a three-pointer with 32 seconds remaining, pulling the Cadets to within two. The Cadets fouled Ciccio with 21 seconds remaining, where he made both shots at the line. The Cadets working quickly rushed down court, where Conatser found a lane to the hoop for a lay-in. Ciccio was put on the line again with 12 seconds left in the contest, where he made his second attempt to take a 74-71 advantage for the Saints.

Norwich again rushed down court looking for an open shot, but the Saints defense was stout, and held off the Cadets' last second attempt for the win.

Norwich (9-6, 4-3 GNAC) will be off until Saturday, Jan. 22 when they travel to New Haven, Conn. to take on Albertus Magnus in a GNAC contest at 3 p.m. They will then host Anna Maria on Wednesday, Jan. 26 in Andrews Hall.