Nashua, NH – Rivier senior guard Nick Bean (E. Longmeadow, MA) scored the 1000th point of his career tonight, but the Norwich University Cadets came away with the 79-67 victory in tonight's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action.
Norwich controlled the tempo early as they jumped out to an 9-0 lead to open the game on three straight 3-pointers with two of those baskets came from sophomore guard Ryan Williams (Dallas, TX). Rivier finally sank their first bucket on a Jake Nelson (Nashua, NH) lay-up, but the Cadets continued to press the Raiders and create turnovers extending their lead to 15 points at 25-10 with 9:30 remaining in the half. Rivier was able to cut the lead to five after a 12-2 run which was capped off by a Will Snider (Brooklyn, NY) lay-up with 4:49 to play to make the score 27-22. Once again, however, Norwich responded and after a last second 3-pointer by junior guard Darell Marshall (Dallas, TX) the Cadets took a 44-31 lead into the locker room.
Less than two minutes into the second half Bean drove the lane and drew a foul to get to the line and sank both free throws to give him exactly 1000 points for his career. This marks the second player this season to score the 1000th point of their career as center Don Poitras (Bow, NH) did it just three games ago against Mount Ida College.
The second half went back and forth for 10 minutes, with each team holding ground and making shots when their team needed it. An Antonio Davis (Albany, NY) lay-up gave Norwich their biggest lead of the night at 16 points, but Rivier stormed right back to cut the lead to 8 after a Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) jump shot with 3:08 left to play. Unfortunately for the Raiders, the Cadets just had too much left in the tank and pushed the lead back to 11 after a Josh Cabrera (Providence, RI) jump shot. Rivier subbed in the bench for the remaining 2:00 minutes of the game and a Nick Walch (Dedham, MA) lay-up finished off the scoring for the Raiders as they fell 79-67.
Norwich had a well balanced attack with five different players reaching double digit points on the night. Ryan Williams led the way with 16 points, going 6 for 6 from the floor before a broken finger forced him off the floor during the second half. Senior Jaren Jeffcoat (Dallas, TX) added 14 points while Pim Smulders (Holland) chipped in with 12 points and a team high 10 rebounds. Josh Cabrera and Antonio Davis each scored 10 points for the Cadets.
Tom Poitras led the charge for the Raiders as he finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds while Bean added 14 points and sophomore Mike Polley (Nashua, NH) chipped in with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
Rivier will host Albertus Magnus College on Saturday at 3:00 PM while Norwich will host Johnson & Wales on the same day at 1:00 PM.
