NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball team closed out their regular season schedule on Saturday afternoon in Andrews Hall against #5 University of St. Joseph in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest, 84-52.

Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) scored 13 points in the contest knocking down four shots from the field and five shots from the free throw line. Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while scoring eight points, and Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) scored nine points.

The Blue Jays jumped out to an early 11-3 lead in the opening 3:23 of play, before Lewis Jr. found his rhythm knocking down a jumper. The Blue Jays again held a 10-point lead, but Booth knocked down a three with 14:14 remaining in the half and another on the ensuing Cadet possession to cut the lead down to four. Samuel-Noah Osarenkhoe (Stockholm, Sweden) found a lane towards the basket to lay-it in, to score on the third straight Cadet possession, cutting the lead to two.

With the Cadets trailing 17-16, the Blue Jays' Jalen Samuels converted on a layup and again on the following USJ possession. Booth broke up the run for the Cadets converting on a lay-in of his own before the Blue Jays scored three straight points.

With 4:52 remaining in the first half, Jordan Powell pushed the Blue Jay lead to 11, but Oliver found a lane to the hoop to cut it back down to nine.  Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) then converted a layup attempt of his own cut the lead to seven.

After a pair of free throws by Lewis Jr. cut the lead to three, the Blue Jays outscored the Cadets 6-0 over the remaining 2:06 of play in the first half.

In the second half the Blue Jays offense exploded for 45 points on 57.1 percent shooting from the field, outscoring Norwich 45-22 in the half on their way to the victory.

Norwich (14-11, 9-8 GNAC) is the No. 6 seed in the GNAC Tournament and will host the No. 11 seed Rivier in a first round matchup on Tuesday, Feb. 22 in Andrews Hall, scheduled for 7 pm.  The postseason matchup the Cadets have hosted since the 2010-11 season when they hosted Emerson in the GNAC Quarterfinals.