NEW LONDON, N.H. – The Norwich University men's basketball team opened their final week of the regular season with a 78-69 setback at Colby-Sawyer College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Tuesday night at the David L. Coffin Fieldhouse.
Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven, Vt.) paced the Cadets behind a 17-point effort, while
Joe Joe DuBrul (Shelburne, Vt.) added 15 points off the bench.
Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) and
Tom Dooling (Boston, Mass.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each.
Both teams exchanged baskets in the early goings, with DuBrul handing the Cadets an 8-7 edge before the Chargers' offense sprung to life. Colby-Sawyer embarked on a 33-16 run to capture the largest lead of the first half at 16, 40-24, which was trimmed before the buzzer on a Murray jumper.
Colby-Sawyer kept Norwich at bay to open the second stanza, maintaining a double-digit advantage until a Dooling trey at the 8:22 mark finally brought the Cadets back within single-figures. The Chargers swiftly responded, pushing their lead back to 13, 70-57, with three and a half minutes left.
The Cadets would not be turned away with ease, however, as a trio of three-pointers from Olivero, DuBrul, and Murray, a layup from
Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.), and a freebie from
Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) put Norwich on the path of a 12-2 run that whittled Colby-Sawyer's lead down to three in the waning seconds.
Six-straight free-throws from the Chargers, however, spelled doom in Norwich's comeback chances, as Colby-Sawyer escaped with the nine-point victory.
Norwich owned dominant leads in second chance points (13-4) and bench points (25-0).
Scott Lampron and Omar Boone led the Chargers with 24 points apiece, while Kevin Cummings poured in 20 points.
The loss, paired with Anna Maria's win over Emmanuel, eliminates Norwich from the GNAC playoff race. The Cadets will now close out the 2022-23 season on Saturday against the AMCATS, hosting Anna Maria with a 3:00 p.m. tip-off. Prior to tip, Norwich will honor Lewis Jr., the lone graduating senior and a 1,000 point scorer at Norwich, as part of the afternoon's Senior Day festivities.
