Moose battle tough in loss to Norwich

Moose battle tough in loss to Norwich
Box Score
December 7, 2013

NORTHFIELD, Vt.—Norwich University and Trinity (Conn.) College advance to the championship game of the 2013 Ed Hockenbury Classic following Saturday evening's wins. The Cadets downed the Moose of the University of Maine-Augusta, 93-74, before Trinity defeated Worcester State 70-54 in the nightcap.

Norwich and Trinity will meet at 3:00 p.m., while UMA and Worcester State will meet in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m.

Junior Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) and senior Tom McDonald (Groton, Mass.) combined for 52 points to lead the Norwich University Cadets to a 93-74 win against the Moose of the University of Maine-Augusta in the opening game of the men's side of the 2013 Ed Hockenbury Classic. With the win, the Cadets improve to 2-4, while the loss drops the Moose to 1-12.
 

Tullar netted a game-high 27 points and McDonald chipped in with 25 points in the win for Norwich. Freshman Josh Evans (Grafton, Mass.) led the team on the boards with eight rebounds.

UMA had four players score in double-figures Saturday night, led by Brandon Rogers (Turlock, Cali.) with a double-double of 22 points and 16 rebounds. Jesse Smith netted 17 points for the Moose and Keith Chesley (Clinton, Maine) and Robert Foss (Augusta, Maine) chipped in with a pair of 11-point performances. 

The Moose won the tip-off and scored on their first possession. Following a Norwich turnover, UMA extended their lead to five on a three-point basket by Smith. The Moose would lead for the first 8:51 of the game until Norwich's Nickolai  Havoutis (Coral Glades, Fla.) hit 1-of-2 free-throw attempts to knot the score at 19-19.

Norwich took the lead on the their next trip down on a layup by Tullar and held the lead for almost two minutes until the Moose stormed back to even the score at 23-23. It would mark the final time that the Moose were close, as Norwich rounded out the half with a 26-11 run to lead 49-34 at half.

The Cadets narrowly outscored the Moose in the second half, 44-40, en route to the 93-74 final. The two teams had near-identical shooting percentages, as Norwich hit 45.8 percent (33-72) of field goals and UMA connected on 29-64 (45.3 percent) of field goal attempts.