The Johnson & Wales University men’s basketball team defeated Norwich, 71-58 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at the Harborside RAC on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Brian Bannister (Boston, Mass.) led the way for Johnson & Wales with 19 points and added five rebounds and five assists while fellow senior Conor Moran (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) added 15 points, five rebounds and three steals in the victory for the Wildcats. JWU freshman Justin Adams (Providence, R.I.) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points and six assists. Leading the way for Norwich in the setback was junior Rene Cheatham (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 24 points and 10 rebounds while fellow junior Scott DuPont (Bourne, Mass.) added 11 points and six boards for the Cadets.
Johnson & Wales jumped out to an early 22-9 lead, capped by a three-pointer by Japhet Kerr (Mt. Kisco, N.Y.) with 11:57 left in the first half. The Wildcats largest lead of the half came with 5:38 left when Moran hit a layup to give the team a 29-15 advantage. Norwich chipped away at the lead late in the first half with Johnson & Wales taking a 34-27 lead into the locker room at halftime
Norwich cut the lead to four points when a three-point play by DuPont made the score 39-35 with 16:36 left in the contest. The Cadets trailed by just five points before JWU used a 16-5 run, capped by a three-pointer by freshman Tit Hudarin (Velenje, Slovenia) to give the Wildcats a 60-44 lead with 10:34 left in the contest. The visiting Cadets would cut the lead to just nine points on several occasions down the stretch. It was not enough, however as Johnson & Wales cruised to the 71-58 victory.
With the win Johnson & Wales improves to 7-11 on the season, 5-6 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference while Norwich falls to 13-5 overall, 9-3 in league play. The Wildcats will return to action on Monday, January 30th when they host Suffolk in a GNAC contest at 7:30 p.m. The game is part of a double-header with the women’s team. That game starts at 5:30 p.m.