PAXTON, Mass. - Behind a career-high 30-point showing from Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.), the Norwich University men's basketball team secured their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory of the year, taking down Anna Maria College, 74-70, in a thriller at the Fuller Activities Center on Saturday afternoon.

Liss posted his 30 points on a near-perfect 13-15 clip from the floor, adding on eight caroms and four helpers.  Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven, Vt.) and Joe Joe DuBrul (Shelburne, Vt.) rounded out the double-digit scorers, tallying 13 and 11 points respectively.  Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) dished out a game-high five assists.

The Cadets hit the ground running, capitalizing on a turnover off of Anna Maria's opening possession on a DuBrul layup.  Neither team separated themselves from one another, despite Norwich claiming an early six-point advantage before the AMCATS took a pair of four-point leads.  Both teams exchanged leads, as the Cadets' offense exploded behind baskets from DuBrul and Liss.

DuBrul pushed Norwich ahead out of the break, but Anna Maria reclaimed the lead and held onto it for 18 minutes of the second half.  The Cadets would not be turned away, however, as an and-one from Liss with 1:38 finally gave Norwich the lead.

JoPaul McKrieth handed the AMCATS the lead again just seconds later, but Liss again responded off a missed layup, putting Norwich ahead again for good, as Murray iced the game from the line on a trio of freebies.

The AMCATS and Cadets were nearly even in several statistics, but Norwich did enjoy a lead in bench points, 17-14.  The win marks the first for the Cadets in Paxton since the 2017-18 season, when Norwich claimed an 89-84 win on Jan. 25, 2018.

Norwich will close out the first semester of play with a non-conference duel, hosting Vermont State University Randolph on Tuesday, Dec. 12.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Andrews Hall.