NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball team held Saint's Joseph's College of Maine scoreless in the final 3:44 of the game while reeling off 17-straight points to claim its first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win of the season with a 77-74 come-from-behind victory on Saturday in Andrews Gym.
Norwich (4-15, 1-5 GNAC) sprinted out to an 11-2 run capped off emphatically by a pull-up transition three by sophomore guard Samuel-Noah Osarenkhoe (Stockholm, Sweden).
Saint Joseph's (8-11, 2-3 GNAC) immediately followed the Cadets' opening run with a 17-2 run over the next three-plus minutes to establish a 19-13 advantage. Nicholas Curtis' and-one play punctuated the Monks' run.
After the teams traded buckets in the two and a half minutes that followed, the visitors strung together another 9-2 run to take their first double-digit lead of the game, 31-20, at the 9:07 mark.
The Cadets trimmed the lead to 31-24 following an Osarenkhoe layup at the 6:37 mark but the Monks, the GNAC's top outside shooting unit, would recapture its double-figure lead thanks largely to an 8-of-15 performance from beyond the arc to head into the break leading 44-31.
Saint Joseph shot a blistering 60 percent from the field in the opening half while holding Norwich to 36.1 percent.
As the Monks' Curtis hit his fifth three-pointer of the game, Norwich trailed by its largest deficit with 13:59 left to play in the second half.
From that point forward, however, Norwich would switch the script on the Monks riding the hot hand of sophomore guard Caleb Casinas (Aiea, Hawaii) who was 8-for-11 from the field in the second half.
The Cadets gradually crept back into the game reducing an 18-point Monks' lead to 66-58 after a 10-0 run in less than two-minute span. Casinas powered the comeback with six of the team's 10 points.
Saint Joseph's once again pushed its lead back to double-figures as Zac Manoogian's layup put the visitors ahead 74-60 with 3:34 to go.
The Cadets' defensive effort ignited their offense as the team completely shut down the Monks for the remainder of the game. Casinas and sophomore forward Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) combined for 15-straight points highlighted in the middle of the run by an open court dunk by Lewis Jr. in transition off a Monks' miss. The hosts used the streak to take their first lead since the early part of the first half at 75-74 with just 13 seconds remaining.
Saint Joseph's was forced to foul after a Curtis miss with two seconds left to play. Junior forward Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.) who was fouled after collecting the rebound missed his free throw, but senior captain Connor Miller (Sydney, Australia) grabbed the offensive rebound and sunk both ensuing free throws after being fouled.
With the Cadets up 77-74, the Monks made a desperation three-pointer at the end, but the shot was off the mark and Norwich secured the upset and its first conference win.
The Cadets shot just under 60 percent from the floor and clamped down on the defensive end holding the Monks to a 40 percent mark and just 2-of-10 from deep in the second half. Norwich outrebounded the Monks 39-29 and scored 13 points off 14 Monks' miscues.
Casinas led all scorers with 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Booth just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Lewis Jr. also notched double-figure points with 14 points and nine boards. Miller paced the reserves with four points and three assists off the bench.
Saint Joseph's will host Anna Maria College in a conference contest on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
COURTESY OF NORWICH UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
