PAXTON, Mass. - The Norwich University men's basketball team opened the 2026 calendar year with a competitive effort but came up short on the road at Anna Maria College, falling 67-56 in a non-conference matchup at the Fuller Activities Center on New Year's Day.

Joe Joe DuBrul (Shelburne, Vt.) and Michel Ndayishimiye (Colchester, Vt.) led the Cadets offensively with 17 and 16 points, respectively.  Charles Nogard (Arlington, Mass.) added eight points and eight rebounds in a balanced two-day performance.

Anna Maria stormed out to an early lead, holding the Cadets scoreless for nearly three minutes and building a 21-7 advantage by the 9:29 mark of the first half.  Norwich began to find its rhythm with a quick 5-0 spurt, but the AMCATS continued to control the tempo, maintaining a nine-point edge with just over three minutes remaining.

A second 5-0 run, fueled by baskets from Nogard, Ndayishimiye, and Jordan Ricketts (Stratford, Conn.), narrowed the gap to four.  After a brief AMCAT answer, free throws by Riley Severy (Barre, Vt.) and a Ndayishimiye layup brought the deficit down to one.  Ndayishimiye then capped theh alf with an old-fashioned three-point play in the final seconds to send the teams into the locker room tied at 32-all.

Anna Maria regained the lead on the first possession of the second half and would never trail again.  Despite several pushes by the Cadets, including baskets from Mike Johnson-Correia (Mattapan, Mass.) and DuBrul to whittle the lead to two on a pair of occasions, the AMCATS managed to rebuild a double-digit cushion by the midway point of the half.

Norwich responded with a 9-0 rally, capped by another Ndayishimiye basket, to once again pull within one.  That proved to be as close as the Cadets would get, as Anna Maria kept Norwich at bay for the final eight minutes and gradually pulled away down the stretch.

Despite the loss, the Cadets held statistical edges in fast break points (21-6), points off turnovers (20-14), and points in the paint (32-26).  The Norwich defense forced 17 turnovers, and the Cadets went to the free-throw line 25 times compared to 14 attempts for the AMCATS.

Norwich returns to action quickly with a non-conference road trip to Plymouth State University on Saturday, Jan. 3, for a 12:00 p.m. tip.  The Cadets will then return home to host Vermont State University Randolph on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 6:00 p.m. inside Andrews Hall.