Men’s Basketball Falls to Norwich, 77-63

NASHUA, N.H. — The Rivier men's basketball team suffered its first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss as well as its first home loss of the season, falling to Norwich 77-63 on Wednesday evening at the Muldoon Center.

With the loss the Raiders fell to 10-5 (3-1 GNAC) while the Cadets improved to 11-3 (2-1 GNAC).

Norwich opened the game with a 12-6 run, prompting a Rivier timeout at the 14:53 mark of the first half. A layup from senior Odarius Cade and a three-pointer from graduate student Joey Merrill helped trim the deficit to one at 12-11. The Cadets responded with a three-pointer of their own, but junior Matt Constant answered with his first three-pointer to once again cut the gap to one at 15-14 with 11:29 remaining. Norwich then embarked on a 7-0 run to push its lead to 22-14. Rivier countered with an 8-0 run, capped by a layup from senior Cheikh Gueye, tying the game at 22-22 with 7:17 left in the half. The Cadets finished the half strong, closing with an 11-4 run to take a 33-26 lead into the break.

Merrill took charge in the second half, scoring the Raiders' first 10 points to help narrow the deficit to 38-36. Cade then hit a game-tying layup with 14:28 remaining. Merrill kept the momentum going, knocking down his third and fourth three-pointers of the game to give Rivier its first lead at 46-43, forcing Norwich to call a timeout. However, the Cadets regrouped, closing the game on a dominant 34-17 run to secure a 77-63 victory.

Merrill led the Raiders with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting (53%), including 6-of-12 (50%) from beyond the arc, while also grabbing a team-high six rebounds. Constant contributed 16 points and five assists while junior Robenson Baguidy paced the team with six assists.

The Raiders look to bounce back in a road conference matchup against Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Saturday, Jan. 18, at Calhoun Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.