Box Score NEWTON, Mass. – The Norwich University men's basketball team saw their season come to an end on Wednesday night as the Cadets fell 69-57 to Lasell in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Quarterfinals in the Lasell Athletic Center.
Freshman Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) scored 13 points while coming off the bench, shooting 6-of-7, including knocking down his lone shot from three-point range. Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) added 10 points while pulling down six rebounds. Jaydon Cousin (Savannah, Ga.) and Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) each scored eight points, while Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven Vt.) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
The Cadets jumped out to a 18-6 lead in the opening 5:25 of play. The Lasers were down 20-9 when a bucket by Kevin Vanderhorst sparked an eight-point run for Lasell to pull within three with 11:32 remaining.
After Vanderhorst knocked down a free throw to shrink the Cadet lead down to two, the teams held each other scoreless over 4:40 before Cousin knocked down a free throw at with 2:25 remaining to put the Cadets up 30-27. Norwich maintained the lead through the rest of the first half, closing the first frame out 34-31.
After scoring four straight points to start the quarter, Lasell took their first lead of the contest at 35-34. A bucket by Jonathan Frieberg with the Lasers up by two, sparked a 10-point run for Lasell as they took control of the contest with 14:20 remaining in regulation. Norwich cut the lead back down to five, but Lasell responded bringing it back to 10.
Norwich cut into the lead but was unable to overcome the deficit as they fell in the Quarterfinal matchup.
Norwich (15-12, 9-8 GNAC) had a year of milestones come to an end with the loss. Over the course of the season, Norwich saw a pair of 1000-point scorers with Kyle Booth and Lewis Jr. both reaching the milestone on Senior Day against Dean. Head Coach Paul Booth also reached a pair of milestones with his 350th career victory and 300th victory as the head coach at Norwich. Norwich also hosted their first GNAC Tournament contest this season since, 2010-11.
