NEWTON, Mass. - Despite a dominant first-half lead, the Norwich University men's basketball team could not withstand a furious Lasell University rally in a 66-63 setback in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at the Lasell Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.

Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) and Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) led the Cadets with 13 points apiece, while Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) posted 11 points.

The Cadets were nearly unstoppable to kick things off, rushing out to a 9-0 lead before the Lasers even got on the board, and stretched their lead to as large as 14, 15-1, on a Joe Joe DuBrul (Shelburne, Vt.) trey.

Norwich held onto their double-digit lead until halfway through the opening frame, when Lasell made some headway, trickling the Cadets' edge down to six on a few occasions, including on the final bucket of the half on an Andrew Cabral three-pointer.

Lasell wasted no time continuing the run, whittling Norwich's lead down to one but struggling to get over the hump.  A Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven, Vt.) layup pushed the Cadets back up by seven, before the Lasers embarked on a 7-0 run to knot things up at 42-all.  Lasell would eventually claim its first lead on an and-one opportunity from EJ Day minutes later.

Both teams traded baskets in the ensuing possessions until it appeared as if the Cadets would take control after a long-range shot from Olivero and a Nabiyu Ndiaye (Barcelona, Spain) lay-in gave Norwich a four-point advantage.  Day would have the last laugh, however, going on a personal 7-0 run to lead the Lasers to victory.

Day led all scorers with 27 points, while Quinton Partee Jr. recorded 13 points and 10 boards.

The Cadets will now look ahead to the final week of the regular season, with a Tuesday, Feb. 14 showdown at Colby-Sawyer College on tap first.  Norwich and the Chargers will duel at 7:30 p.m. in a game with significant GNAC playoff implications for both teams.