Strong Team Effort Powers Men's Hoops Past Norwich, 75-71

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Emmanuel College men's basketball team rallied from a three-point halftime deficit to post a 75-71Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) road win on Tuesday night against Norwich University.

At the beginning of the matchup, Norwich was able to gather an eight-point lead in the opening 4:31 of the game, gathering a 11-3 lead. Emmanuel recovered enough to cut the lead to five, after Bryant Ciccio (Attleboro, Mass.) hit a three-pointer.

With 7:39 remaining in the opening half, Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) hit a jumper that helped spark an 8-2 run that allowed the Cadets to take a 12-point advantage.  The Saints did not waiver as they came back to pulled back to within four with 1:31 remaining in the first half. With the Cadets up 39-33, the Saints' Devin Pulsifer (Winthrop, Mass.) got a three-point jumper up before the buzzer to end the half, knocking it down to go into halftime down three.

Emmanuel opened the second half by scoring the first seven points, taking a 43-39 lead, a lead. Norwich evened things up at 43-43 with a layup by Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.).  Emmanuel would take a lead shortly after, that they would extend up to 10 with 4:50 remaining in the contest.

Caleb Casinas (Aiea, Hawaii) hit a three-pointer with 3:55 remaining to help the Cadets to begin cutting into the lead, seven of the next nine points, cutting the deficit to five. Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) hit a three-pointer with 32 seconds remaining, pulling the Cadets to within two. The Cadets fouled Ciccio with 21 seconds remaining, where he made both shots at the line. The Cadets working quickly rushed down court, where Conatser found a lane to the hoop for a lay-in. Ciccio was put on the line again with 12 seconds left in the contest, where he made his second attempt to take a 74-71 advantage for the Saints.

Norwich again rushed down court looking for an open shot, but the Saints defense was stout, and held off the Cadets' last second attempt for the win.

EC sophomore Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) posted a double-double with game-highs in both points (17) and rebounds (15). Ciccio and Pulsifer each finished the game with 16, combinging to go 6-for-8 from behind the arc, while Zach Crisafulli (East Hampton, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points for the Saints.

For NU, Booth had 11 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the game, and Olivero shot 50 percent from the field (6-for-12) registering 13 points on the scoresheet. Lewis Jr. shot 66.7 percent from the field on his way to a 12-point night.

Emmanuel (10-4, 6-2 GNAC) returns to action on Saturday, January 22 when they play host to Johnson & Wales University at 1:00 PM. Norwich (9-6, 4-3 GNAC) is also off until Saturday when they travel to New Haven, Conn. to take on Albertus Magnus in a GNAC contest at 3:00 PM.

*Release courtesy of Norwich University Athletic Communications