With the win, Norwich (21-7) won its fifth straight game overall and advanced to Saturday night’s 7:00 p.m. second round game at St. John Fisher (24-3).
Junior guard David Williams (Hartford, CT) finished with a team-high 19 points and senior forward Lonnie Branyon III (West Haven, CT) added 12 for Elms College, which saw its program-record 10-game winning streak snapped as it finished its school-record setting season at 22-7.
The tight first half featured seven lead changes with neither team leading by more than three points in the game’s opening 12 minutes.
Elms College freshman forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, CT) had six points in the first 11 minutes, including an emphatic dunk that tied the game at 19-19 with 8:45 remaining in half. Junior guard Justin Davis (Dix Hills, NY) followed with a 3-pointer seconds later to give the Blazers a 22-19 lead with 8:15 left.
Hensley responded by hitting three consecutive 3-pointers over the next 84 seconds to extend the Cadets’ lead to 28-22.
Norwich grabbed its largest lead of the half (39-26) with 1:24 remaining on a dunk by sophomore guard Jerrold Williams (Norwalk, CT) and closed the half on a 20-8 run for a 39-30 lead at intermission.
Hensley led all scorers with 11 first half points and Norwich shot a 55.2-percent in the half while limiting the Blazers to 37.9-percent shooting.
The Cadets led by 13 points for the first eight minutes of the second half before the Blazers battled back to cut the deficit to 51-41 with 11:48 remaining on a putback by Branyon off a missed 3-pointer by junior guard John Ancrum (Harlem, NY).
Elms College continued to whittle away at the deficit as Ancrum drained three free throws over the next 45 seconds to pull the Blazers to within 51-44.
Norwich built its lead back to 10 over the next minute and held it for much of the second half.
Elms College attempted one last run in the closing two minutes as Davis nailed a 3-pointer with 1:53 remaining to pull the Blazers to within 71-66.
Following a pair of Norwich free throws on its next possession, sophomore forward Nathan Hawes (New Hope, MN) responded with a layup to once again pull the Blazers to within five with 1:43 left.
Elms College, however, was called for an intentional foul seconds later and Hensley drained both free throws to extend the Cadets’ lead to 75-68 with 1:34 remaining.
The Blazers would get no closer as Hensley and junior forward Rene Cheatham (Cincinnati, OH) drained two more free throws apiece in the closing 90 seconds to seal the victory.
Newspaper Box Score Elms College vs Norwich University 03/02/06 7:00 p.m. at Northfield, VT At Northfield, VT NORWICH UNIVERSITY 82, ELMS COLLEGE 70 ELMS COLLEGE (22-7) David Williams 8-19 0-2 19; Lonnie Branyon III 5-7 2-7 12; John Ancrum 1-8 7-10 9; Nathan Hawes 3-8 2-2 8; Antoine Holder 3-11 0-0 6; Justin Davis 2-7 0-0 6; Randy Hite 2-3 1-1 5; William Beauregard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 17-28 70. NORWICH UNIVERSITY (21-7) Geoff Hensley 5-12 11-12 24; Rene Cheatham 6-15 5-8 17; Jerrold Williams 5-11 4-4 16; Brian Dumond 4-4 0-0 8; Derrick Montiero 2-5 2-4 6; Scott DuPont 2-4 0-2 4; Michael Filipek 2-6 0-0 4; Jamel Bedford 1-2 1-3 3. Totals 27-59 23-33 82. Elms College.................. 30 40 - 70 Norwich University............ 39 43 - 82 3-point goals-Elms College 5-21 (David Williams 3-7; Justin Davis 2-5; John Ancrum 0-5; Antoine Holder 0-3; Randy Hite 0-1), Norwich University 5-16 (Geoff Hensley 3-8; Jerrold Williams 2-5; Derrick Montiero 0-2; Jamel Bedford 0-1). Fouled out--Elms College-David Williams, Norwich University-None. Rebounds-Elms College 34 (Lonnie Branyon III 8), Norwich University 48 (Scott DuPont 9). Assists-Elms College 10 (John Ancrum 4), Norwich University 23 (Geoff Hensley 10). Total fouls-Elms College 26, Norwich University 22. A-1100 NU advances to round two of the NCAA Tournament and will take on St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, NY on Saturday night, March 4, 2006. Elms College finishes with school-record 22 victories.