Nelson's 22 points guide Men's Basketball to victory

(Northfield, Vermont) The Rivier University Men's Basketball team earned their second consecutive Great Northeast Athletic Conference win as they took down Norwich University, 62-52 at Andrews Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Rivier improves to 7-12 overall and a 4-8 mark in the GNAC while Norwich drops to 4-15 overall and 2-10 inside of the conference.

The Raiders were led by junior Jake Nelson (Nashua, NH) with 22 points on 8-12 shooting from the floor, including a perfect 4-4 effort from three-point range. Senior Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) added 17 points and a game high 19 rebounds, while sophomore Kywane Thomas (Hartford, Conn.) chipped in with 15 points.

Norwich seniors Tom McDonald (Groton, Mass.) and Nickolai Havoutis (Coral Glades, Fla.) both scored 15 points for the Cadets, while Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) finished with 11 points.

Norwich scored the first points of the game on free-throws by Havoutis. Freshman Josh Evans (Grafton, Mass.) hit a jumper and Havoutis nailed a three-pointer to give Norwich a seven-point early lead, but the Raiders wasted no time bouncing back and took the 10-9 lead with 13:16 still to play. Minutes later, Nelson hit a three-pointer to give the Raiders a seven-point lead, 20-13, with 8:17 on the clock.

Rivier would lead by as many as eight in the first half, but a McDonald hit a three on Norwich's final possession of the first half to cut Rivier's halftime lead to 27-22.

The Raiders hit just nine field goals in the second half, but scored 15 points at the free-throw line to best Norwich's 11 field goals. After trailing by 11 points with 5:35 to play, the Cadets sparked a comeback attempt by scoring eight straight points to come within three, 53-50, with 2:34 still to play.

Poitras scored on Rivier's next trip down the floor, and an offensive foul by Havoutis on Norwich's ensuing drive set up Nelson for a layup to put the Raiders up 57-50 with 1:32 still to play. From there, the Cadets were forced to foul to gain possession. Havoutis hit a final layup for Noriwhc, but the Raiders scored five points off free-throws to clinch the 62-52 win.

The Raiders held advantages in three scoring categories, including points in the paint (26-20), second-chance points (14-8), and fast-break points (7-4). Both teams scored 14 points off turnovers, while Norwich held a 9-2 advantage in bench points.

Norwich shot 35.3 percent from the floor over the course of the game on 18-51 shooting. The Raiders hit 20 of 49 field goal attempts to shoot 40.8 percent.

Winners of their past two games, Rivier will look to make it a winning streak when they host Lasell College on Thursday night. The GNAC contest is scheduled for a 7:30pm start inside the Muldoon Gymnasium. The Cadets are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 5 when they host Emmanuel College in a 7:00 p.m. GNAC matchup.