PROVIDENCE, R.I. - For the first time in 13 years, the Norwich University men's basketball team proved victorious against Johnson & Wales University, scratching past the Wildcats, 66-56, in a pivotal Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) showdown on Saturday afternoon.

Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) again provided a significant boost off the bench, going 10-15 from the floor to finish with 24 points in 26 minutes.  Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven, Vt.) and Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) rounded out the double-digit performers, each knocking down five shots from the floor to finish with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

The Cadets got the ball rolling early, as Liss struck first on Norwich's opening possession.  JWU also found a flow in the initial minutes, laying up back-to-back baskets to take an advantage.  The two teams exchanged leads again, as Aireus Raspberry knotted the game up at 10-all.

Olivero broke the stalemate, spurring the Cadets to a 6-0 run that eventually blossomed into five different 11-point leads over a five-minute stretch.  The Cadets appeared primed to coast into the break with momentum, but a four-point play by the Wildcats helped narrow the playing field, bringing Norwich's lead down to five before Liss stretched it to seven on two freebies before the intermission.

Johnson & Wales kept inching into Norwich's lead, gradually whittling the edge down to two, but the Cadets would not be deterred.  An 8-0 run, with Olivero responsible for six of those eight points, pushed the visitors back to double-digit territory.

Any attempt by the Wildcats proved to be meaningless, as clutch answers from Norwich kept the hosts at bay.  Raspberry brought JWU back to within seven with four and a half minutes remaining, but a pair of jumpers from Murray and a layup from Olivero granted the Cadets their largest lead of 13 in the closing minutes, en route to the 10-point victory.

Bench play proved critical, courtesy of Olivero's outburst, as the Cadets held a 28-15 lead in bench points.  Norwich also maintained leads in points in the paint (40-32) and points off turnovers (13-10), while shooting 44.1% from the floor and holding the Wildcats to just 34.8% shooting, including just four trips to the charity stripe.

The win marks the first for Norwich over the Wildcats since an 88-86 victory in Andrews Hall back on February 12, 2011.  The Cadets also scooped up their first victory on JWU's court since Jan. 10, 2004, in a 70-65 win.

The Cadets, who are in the thick of the hunt for a top-four spot in the GNAC ahead of the GNAC Tournament later this month, will travel to Henniker, N.H. for a 7:00 p.m. bout at New England College on Wednesday, Feb. 7.  Norwich then returns home to host Lasell University on Saturday, Feb. 10, in a pivotal GNAC duel.