NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Suffolk men's basketball team slipped up at Norwich, 67-51, in a GNAC tilt Wednesday evening.
The victory was the first for the Cadets who move to 1-6 in league play and 4-10 overall, while Suffolk dropps to 2-4 in the conference and 4-9 on the year.
Suffolk was led by senior Jake Meister with 16 points, while classmate Caleb Unni added 15 points for the Rams. Freshman forward Steven DiPrizio scored eight points and collected a team-high six rebounds off the bench.
Sophomore center Mike Hogervorst hit all nine of his attempts from the floor and thee from the stripe for a team-high 21 points and six rebounds on the night. Senior guard Jimmy Warden added 11 points, four assists and a pair of rebounds and steals for the Cadets. Freshman Chibuzor Ogbue shot 4-of-6 for nine points while pulling down four rebounds as sophomore guard Ryan Fitzgerald contributed eight points.
The Cadets jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first four minutes of the game and held onto the lead through the stanza, leading by as many as 16 points at one point. Suffolk battled its way back into the frame, hitting five shots from beyond the arc down the stretch to trail by just one point, 32-31, at the break. Norwich jumped out of the gate in the second half with an 8-0 run before Unni nailed a trey to stop the bleeding, only to be matched by Warden's three to spark a 7-5 run in a span of five minutes with Norwich leading by 10 points, 49-39 at the 11:28 mark. The Rams looked to rally midway through the contest, but were outmatched as Suffolk hit just 26.1 percent from the floor to the Cadets' 60 percent in the stanza as Norwich collected the 67-51 victory.
The Cadets outrebounded Suffolk 36-23 and scored 40 points in the paint. The Rams had a slight edge by scoring 20 points off of turnovers and nine on second chances.
Suffolk is back in action Saturday, Jan. 16 as the Rams host Johnson & Wales at 3:15 p.m. in a conference match-up.