Trailing by as many as 21 points early in the second half, Suffolk put together a monster rally to grab their first win in conference play on the season, 82-77 on the road at Norwich.
Freshman Mike Gibbons (Ringwood, NJ) continued his strong play draining seven 3 pointers to help lead the Rams to victory. Freshman Jevic Muteba (Revere, MA) added 17 points, and sophomore Mike Fleming (Exeter, NH) had 13 points for Suffolk who played without two of their captains, Brian Small and Allan Ray both out with injuries.
Robert Thurman scored a career-high 34 points and added nine rebounds for the Cadets. Norwich led by 13 at halftime, and the Cadets scored the first eight points of the second half to open up a 46-25 advantage with 17:20 to play in the game. The Rams used a quick 11-2 spurt to trim their deficit down to 48-36 at the 15:12 mark. Triples by Gibbons and Fleming capped the run, which put the Rams back within striking distance.
A three-point play by Thurman put NU on top 51-36, but a three-pointer by Gibbons and a lay-up by Flemming made it 51-41 at the 13:58 mark. The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes, and Norwich led 64-54 with just under nine minutes to play. The Rams went on fire over the next three minutes, outscoring the Cadets 15-4 to take a 69-68 lead at the 5:39 mark.
Two free throws by Davis lifted Norwich back on top, 70-69, but another trey by Gibbons gave Suffolk a 72-70 edge. Thurman tied it up at 72-72 with a lay-up, but the Rams scored the next four points to establish a 76-72 lead with 2:36 remaining. Norwich trailed 78-74 with less than one minute to play, but a free throw by Thurman and a lay-up by Cabrera made it 78-77. Norwich fouled Suffolk on its ensuing possession and Mike Lindberg hit both free throws to make it a three-point game with 25 seconds on the clock. Norwich had a shot to force overtime, but Cabrera's three-pointer was off the mark, and Muteba converted two more shots from the charity stripe to secure the victory.
A dunk by Thurman and three-pointers by Cabrera and Fico helped Norwich to an early 8-4 lead. The Cadets extended their lead to 14-7 thanks to a quick six points by Thurman. Suffolk used a 5-1 burst to make it a 15-12 game midway through the first half, but a 9-0 Norwich run gave the Cadets a 24-12 lead at the 6:17 mark. NU led by as many as 17 points in the first half, before taking a 38-25 lead into the intermission.
Suffolk shot a blistering 53.1 percent from the floor in the second half, including 50.0 percent (7-for-14) from three-point range. For the game, the Rams hit just 39.7 percent of their shots, but they connected on 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from behind the arc.
Suffolk is back on the court Thursday night as they travel to Mount Ida College to take on the Mustangs.