WESTON, Mass. - The Norwich University men's basketball team secured a critical Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory on Saturday afternoon, rallying from a double-digit second-half deficit to take down Regis College, 62-55, at Higgins Court.

Joe Joe DuBrul (Shelburne, Vt.) led the Cadets with 18 points, connecting on 5-6 from beyond the arc in a sharp-shooting performance.  Jordan Ricketts (Stratford, Conn.) added 10 points, while Michel Ndayishimiye (Colchester, Vt.) and Mohammed Kanneh (South Burlington, Vt.) chipped in eight points apiece in a balanced team effort.

Regis struck first with a layup on the opening possession, but DuBrul quickly answered with a jumper, and Ndayishimiye gave Norwich its first lead moments later.  An early scoring drought followed for both teams, but the Cadets edged ahead, 9-4, on a DuBrul free throw nearly six minutes in.

The Pride regained the advantage midway through the half, sparking a back-and-forth sequence that saw the teams trade baskets and leads.  Regis appeared to seize momentum with a 5-0 run to break a 19-all tie, but Norwich countered with a 7-0 spurt powered by DuBrul, Ricketts, and Ndayishimiye.  Regis closed the half strong, however, reclaiming a four-point edge before Ricketts cut it to two before the buzzer with a layup, sending the Cadets into the break trailing, 35-33.

Regis built its largest lead of the afternoon early in the second half, capitalizing on an 8-0 run to go up, 43-33.  Undeterred, Norwich responded with a 16-2 rally over the next eight minutes, flipping the game behind key contributions from Mike Johnson-Correia (Mattapan, Mass.), DuBrul, Ricketts, Kanneh, and Charles Nogard (Arlington, Mass.).

The Cadets never allowed Regis to retake the lead, though the Pride managed to tie the game three separate times down the stretch, the last at 53-53 with 3:48 remaining.  Kanneh broke the deadlock with a clutch putback, and DuBrul followed with his fifth triple of the game to push Norwich in front by five.

Regis trimmed the gap with a layup, but the Cadets iced the win with strong defense and closing buckets from Ndayishimiye and Noah Hutchinson (Montclair, N.J.).

Norwich finished the game with advantages in points off turnovers (12-5), fast break points (6-2), and second-chance points (11-6).  The Cadets shot 40.7% from the field and 43.8% from long range, including a blistering 57.1% from three in the second half.  Defensively, Norwich held the Pride to just 4-24 shooting from beyond the arc.

With the playoff race heating up entering the final month of the regular season, the Cadets will host Colby-Sawyer College on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 7:00 p.m. in Andrews Hall.  Norwich then travels for back-to-back outings at Mitchell College and New England College on Feb. 7 and Feb. 11, respectively.