FRANKLIN, Mass. - The Norwich University men's basketball team dropped a battle between two Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) juggernauts, falling to Dean College, 75-71, despite seeing four players post double-figures in Piero Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) was the offensive stalwart on the day, scoring 19 points in the second half en route to finishing with 25 points on an 8-12 clip and 8-10 mark from the foul line.  He was joined by Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.), Charles Nogard (Arlington, Mass.), and Sharif Sharif (Burlington, Vt.), as the trio rattled off 17, 14, and 11 points, respectively.

Neither team could shake one another off throughout the opening half, with Olivero opening the affair on a jumper before the Bulldogs promptly responded, generating a back-and-forth sequence that saw several ties and lead changes.

An Olivero trey with 5:02 remaining in the first stanza granted the Cadets a narrow 29-27 advantage, but nine-straight points by Dean pushed the hosts ahead by seven.  Back-to-back layups by Olivero and Nogard during the final two minutes brought Dean's lead down to 36-33 at halftime.

The Bulldogs erupted out of the gates to corral a game-high 14-point lead, but the Cadets gradually whittled away over a six-minute span on a 22-8 run, capped off by a Nogard layup.  Riley Severy (Barre, Vt.) finally pushed Norwich ahead with six minutes remaining and Liss extended the Cadet advantage to four on a pair of freebies, but Dean overcame the deficit swiftly, recapturing it moments later.

Late baskets by Nogard and Olivero kept Norwich within striking distance, but time ran short on the Cadets' hopes as the Bulldogs claimed the four-point victory.

Christian Yeates led the Bulldogs off the bench, tallying 19 points in 25 minutes.

The Cadet offense maintained a solid 42.9% shooting clip from the floor while taking 21 free throws, all the while the defense restricted the Bulldogs to just 25.0% from outside.

Norwich will look to right the ship to close the month of January, traveling state lines to Colby-Sawyer College on Wednesday, Jan. 29, for a 7:30 p.m. clash with the Chargers.  The Cadets then return to the friendly confines of Andrews Gymnasium to host Albertus Magnus on Saturday, Feb. 1.