NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's basketball team returned to Andrews Hall for the penultimate home game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon, falling to perennial national powerhouse University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), 83-56, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup.

Charles Nogard (Arlington, Mass.) led the Cadets offensively with 14 points, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and collecting three steals.  Mike Johnson-Correia (Mattapan, Mass.) added 11 points, converting a perfect 6-6 effort at the free-throw line to go along with three steals of his own.  Michel Ndayishimiye (Colchester, Vt.) narrowly missed double figures, finishing with nine points.

After nearly two minutes of scoreless play to open the contest, Norwich found its rhythm in an 8-second burst.  Ndaymishimiye broke the stalemate with a layup before Nogard buried back-to-back triples to give the Cadets an early 8-0 advantage.  The Blue Jays answered emphatically, stringing together 14 consecutive points until Jordan Ricketts (Stratford, Conn.) halted the run with a three-pointer of his own.

Saint Joseph continued to build its cushion, pushing the lead into double digits, but Norwich trimmed the deficit back to single digits midway through the half on baskets from Ricketts and Riley Severy (Barre, Vt.).  The blue Jays extended their advantage to 15 with 4:05 remaining in the stanza, yet the Cadets responded with six straight points on buckets from Noah Hutchinson (Montclair, N.J.), Ricketts, and Nogard to close within nine.  Two late free throws by Saint Joseph stretched the margin to 35-24 at halftime.

Nogard opened the second half with a quick layup to bring Norwich within nine once more, though it would be the closest the Cadets would come.  After the Blue Jays expanded their lead to 19, Norwich mounted another push, piecing together a 10-1 run capped by a Daniel Bogre (Colchester, Vt.) three-pointer to cut the deficit to 10 at 52-42.

The Cadets remained within striking distance, trailing by 13 with 4:41 to play, but Saint Joseph closed the game on a 16-2 surge to pull away and secure the 27-point result.

Norwich now turns its focus to the final week of the regular season with playoff positioning still in sight.  The Cadets travel to Emmanuel College on Tuesday, Feb. 17, for a 5:30 p.m. contest in Boston, Mass., before returning home to host Elms College on Senior Day in the regular-season finale on Saturday, Feb. 21, inside Andrews Hall.