CHICOPEE, Mass. – A hot shooting performance from long range and a trio of double-digit scorers helped the Norwich University men’s basketball team quell a comeback bid from Elms College in a 77-65 victory for the Cadets at Picknelly Arena on Thursday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.

Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven, Vt.) led the offensive, drilling five treys en route to a 25-point showcase.  Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) was a perfect 3-3 from long range, registering an 18-point, 12-board double-double, while Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) added 15 points with a pair of three-pointers.

After the Blazers captured their final lead of 9-8 three minutes into the contest, a lay-in from Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) helped set things in motion for the Cadets.  Despite Elms tying the game at 16-all minutes later, the Cadets would embark on a 17-3 run to close the frame, which included a 12-0 spurt capped by a Tom Dooling (Boston, Mass.) layup just before the buzzer to give Norwich a 35-19 lead.

The opening of the second half would follow a similar story, as the Cadets would secure their largest lead of 21, 46-25, after back-to-back treys from Murray and Liss.  With Norwich’s lead at 20 after a pair of Olivero freebies, Elms nearly mounted an improbable comeback, trimming the Cadets’ lead down to four over the ensuing 10 minutes.

Despite further attempts to get over the hump, the Blazers’ storm would wither, as a momentum-shifting and-one dunk from Liss with a minute and a half remaining propelled Norwich to its 77-65 win over Elms.

Both teams were nearly even across a handful of categories, including a 28-28 final in points in the paint.  Norwich, however, held narrow advantages in points off turnovers (14-10) and second chance points (8-7).  The Cadets were blistering from the field, maintaining clips of 45.0% from the floor and 55.6% on long range bombs.

The Blazers were led by Dominique Threatt’s 18 points, while Tahquell Cadle and Trey Sabia contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Norwich will look to pick up an important GNAC victory on Saturday, hosting an Emmanuel College (Mass.) squad that has yet to lose a conference tilt.  Tip-off in Andrews Hall is set for 1:00 p.m., serving as the first game in a weekend doubleheader.