Men's Basketball is Tournament Bound with 91-61 Cruise over Cadets

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball team fell to Lasell College, 91-61, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game at Andrews Gymnasium on senior day. 

Prior to the game, senior guard Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) was recognized by his teammates for his contribution to the team on Senior Day. 

Freshman forward Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands) and junior forward Alex Preckol (Westford, Mass.) each scored 13 points, while junior guard Gary Gladden (Boyton Beach, Fla.) netted 12 points. 

Strong shooting from beyond the arc benefited Lasell today as Richard O'Brien and Brock Walters tallied 23 and 20 points, respectively, with O'Brien (5-of-5) and Walters (6-of-6) hitting all of their three-point attempts in the contest. 

Norwich (8-16, 5-13 GNAC) trailed, 12-4, early in the first half before Lasell (10-15, 9-9 GNAC) took control of the game with an ensuing 27-15 scoring run to go up by 20 points, 39-19, with 4:25 to go and never looked back. The Lasers continued to pull away with Walters scoring 11 of the 21 points in the 21-6 before the end of the half to lead by 19 at the break. Norwich shot just 31 percent from the field (9-of-29) and just 22.2 percent from beyond the arc, while the Lasers went 48.5 percent from the floor and 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from the three-point line. 

Lasell picked up right where they left off to begin the second half and extended their lead to a game-high 33 points at the 3:44 mark of the frame. The Cadets' offense improved in the stanza, shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and 11-of-13 (86.6 percent) from the charity stripe. Despite the efforts from the Cadets, the earlier deficit would be too much to overcome as Lasell would go on to post the 91-61 victory. 

The Lasers ended the game shooting 50.8 percent (32-of-63), including shooting 27 three-pointer attempts finishing 16-of-27 overall (59.3 percent). Norwich shot 38.2 percent (21-of-55) overall for the game and was held to 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from long range. 

The loss to Lasell ends Norwich's 2014-15 season, as the Cadets needed a win against the Lasers to advance to the GNAC Tournament.

The Lasers will travel to Saint Joseph's College (Me.) on Tuesday, Feb. 24 for the GNAC quarterfinals with a tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m.