Senior F Cori Boston led Norwich with 20 points. Norwich athletics photo

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's basketball team was ready for a battle when they took the court against Western Connecticut State University on Wednesday night. In their first game since the Ed Hockenbury Classic championship, the Cadets battled the Colonials into overtime, eventually getting edged by a competitive WestConn team, 87-82.

Five players put up double-digit points on the Cadets squad. Senior F Cori Boston led the pack with 20 points, making four boards, two assists and recording Norwich's only steal of the game. Sophomore G Ryan Williams contributed 14 points, seven boards and one assist.

Junior F Antonio Davis went 6-of-10 in shooting for 12 points, two assists and a game-high eight boards. Davis led the Cadets for blocks with three. Tallying ten points and three assists apiece were senior G Jaren Jeffcoat and junior captain G Josh Cabrera. Jeffcoat also made six boards, as Cabrera tallied three.

For the Colonials, junior DaQuan Brooks and senior Wilbert Jarrett put up 25 points apiece, playing a very quick paced and offensive game. Jarrett shot 9-of-13, while Brooks sank four 3-pointers.

Gary Robinson and Mark Redding led with eight boards each, while Rob Bentil assisted his teammates by leading the Colonials with seven assists and five blocks.

Norwich (3-3) went into halftime trailing by two, having never let WestConn (7-1) pull away by more than 10 points. With the score at 41-39, the lead changed on five different occasions in the first half, as both teams worked to hold the momentum.

In the second half, the score was never more than an eight point margin, while the Colonials and the Cadets each held the lead four different times.

With eight seconds on the clock in regulation time, the Cadets trailed by three, 73-70. Boston received a pass from Cabrera and went up for a 3-pointer, sinking the basket to tie the game and force overtime.

WestConn took control in the first three seconds of overtime, but the Cadets came back with under 3:30 left to play, holding a one point edge at 77-76. Brooks sank his fourth 3-pointer of the game to take back the lead.

Jeffcoat made a 3-pointer and a layup as the seconds counted down, but it wasn't enough to close the gap. WestConn held steady to their lead and finished the game ahead, 87-82.

The Cadets will play back-to-back conference games this weekend, hosting Lasell on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Andrews Hall, and hitting the road on Sunday to play at Rivier for a 1 p.m. game.