NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's basketball never relinquished their lead in a 63-43 dismantling of the University of Maine at Fort Kent in the opening round of the 2023 Ed Hockenbury Classic on Saturday evening in Andrews Hall.

Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) paced the Cadets offensively, going 8-12 from the floor to finish with 19 points off the bench.  Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven, Vt.) led the team among the starts, adding 13 points to go with three helpers and three steals.

Murray opened the affair on a layup off the opening tip, and Norwich never looked back.  Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) gave the Cadets their first double-digit lead just a little over halfway into the stanza, but the Bengals would not go away, dwindling the advantage down to six.  Liss halted the momentum, however, ending the half on a swift 5-0 run in the final 43 seconds of action.

Rodrick Pearson (Hartford, Conn.) and Nabiyu Ndiaye (Barcelona, Spain) kicked off the second with back-to-back baskets, helping spearhead Norwich's offensive rhythm, eventually leading to a 20-point edge on a pair of Murray freebies.

The Cadets took their largest lead of 24 late, courtesy of Riley Severy's (Barre, Vt.) trip to the free-throw line, and held on for the 20-point lead.

Norwich maintained a significant advantage in a handful of categories, including in points in the paint (40-22), fast break points (14-3), and bench points (34-20).

In the final game of Saturday's action, 18th-nationally ranked Trinity College shook off a slow start to capture a 76-44 win over Framingham State.

The Bengals will take on Framingham State in the consolation game on Sunday, Dec. 3, at 1:00 p.m.  Norwich, meanwhile, hosts Trinity at 3:00 p.m. in the championship tilt.