NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's basketball team placed four players in double figures and avenged an earlier-season defeat to New England College on Wednesday evening, knocking off the Pilgrims, 83-69, at Bridges Gym in a critical Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest.

Overcoming a 12-point loss to New England College on Nov. 18, the Cadets were fueled by a 22-point performance from Joe Joe DuBrul (Shelburne, Vt.), who buried five three-pointers to lead all scorers.  Jordan Ricketts (Stratford, Conn.) added 18 points on 7-14 shooting, while Michel Ndayishimiye (Colchester, Vt.) and Charles Nogard (Arlington, Mass.) contributed 15 and 12 points, respectively, to round out Norwich's balanced offensive attack.

After nearly 40 seconds of scoreless play to open the contest, Ndayishimiye broke the stalemate with a layup, igniting an early back-and-forth exchange.  Neither team led by more than two points until a pair of Ndayishimiye free-throws five minutes in nudged Norwich ahead, 16-13.

The Cadets extended their edge to five on separate occasions behind buckets from DuBrul and Noah Hutchinson (Montclair, N.J.), but New England College responded with timely three-pointers from Jasen Stovall to reclaim a 35-34 lead with 4:03 remaining in the half.  The teams continued to trade punches down the stretch, as a Daniel Bogre (Colchester, Vt.) layup knotted the contest at 38-38 with under a minute to play.  Two Stovall free-throws in the closing seconds, however, sent the Pilgrims into the locker room with a two-point advantage.

The second half opened with another tightly contested stretch, and the sides remained deadlocked at 49-49 just four minutes in.  DuBrul then delivered the turning point, drilling a three-pointer off a feed from Mike Johnson-Correia (Mattapan, Mass.) to spark a decisive 9-0 Norwich run.  The surge gave the Cadets a lead they would not surrender, even as the Pilgrims trimmed the margin to five with 6:05 left.

Norwich answered emphatically, stringing together a 14-2 run highlighted by clutch makes from Ricketts, Ndayishimiye, DuBrul, and Nogard to push the lead into double figures.  Though the offense cooled in the final 100 seconds, the Cadet defense clamped down, surrendering just three points the rest of the way to secure the 14-point victory.

Norwich finished with slight advantages in points off turnovers (14-7), second chance points (6-4), and fast break points (12-4).  The Cadets were efficient throughout, shooting 48.3% from the floor and connecting on 11-24 attempts from long range, good for a 45.8% clip.

The Cadets will look to keep the momentum rolling on Saturday, Feb. 14, when perennial GNAC powerhouse University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) visits Andrews Hall for a 1:00 p.m. showdown.  Norwich then hits the road for its penultimate regular-season contest at Emmanuel College on Tuesday, Feb. 17.