LYNDONVILLE, Vt. - The Norwich University men's basketball team cracked open a 41-all deadlock at halftime, surpassing the 100-point mark in a 103-73 non-conference victory over Vermont State University Lyndon at George W. Stannard Gymnasium in Norwich's first-semester finale on Wednesday evening.

Four different Cadets tallied double-digits, with Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) resuming his offensive domination on 29 points on a 9-16 clip from the floor and 11-12 mark at the foul line.  Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) logged a 20-point and 12-rebound double-double to go with five assists, while Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven, Vt.) racked up 18 points.  Sharif Sharif (Burlington, Vt.) came off the bench, adding 11 points in the win.

It took over two minutes for either team to find the basket, as Murray struck first on a fastbreak trey to open the scoreless knot.  Neither team could separate themselves from the other, as VTSU Lyndon surged ahead at the 12:49 mark, creating a sequence where both squads exchanged leads seven times throughout the half.

The Cadets finally reclaimed the edge courtesy of a Liss layup with six and a half minutes remaining in the opening stanza.  The Hornets did not go away despite Norwich pulling away by five at one point, tying the game in the waning seconds to send both teams into the locker room tied at 41-41.

VTSU Lyndon maintained momentum out of the break, taking an early lead before back-to-back treys by Olivero and an old-fashioned three-point play from Liss generated a Cadet spark that saw them take a double-digit lead.

The hosts kept within striking distance at the midway point, holding Norwich's edge to single-digits on a few occasions, but 66-59 would be the closest VTSU Lyndon would get over the final 11 minutes.

A pair of Liss freebies initiated a 35-9 run over the ensuing nine minutes, capped off by the Cadets taking their largest lead of 33 on an emphatic Liss dunk off a Daniel Bogre (Colchester, Vt.) helper, en route to the 30-point win.

The Cadets were a force offensively, carrying a 47.5% shooting clip for the contest while going 22-27 from the charity stripe.  Norwich held the Hornets to just nine free-throw attempts.

Norwich, particularly, thrived off 26 VTSU Lyndon turnovers, outscoring the Hornets, 34-6, on points off miscues.  The Cadets were also dominant in points in the paint (60-26) and fast break points (33-12), while also maintaining narrow edges in second-chance points (12-9) and bench points (29-28).

The Cadets close the first semester of competition with a 7-1 overall record, the best mark in all of the GNAC after the conclusion of Wednesday's affair.

Norwich will return to action before the end of the calendar year, traveling to Daytona Beach, Fla., for a pair of games in the Florida Sunshine Shoot-Out at the Ocean Center.  The Cadets will first battle Husson University on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 8:00 p.m., before taking on Penn College, coached by former Cadet and 1,000-point scorer Geoff Hensley '06, on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 6:00 p.m.