Tonight was the night that milestones were achieved, that history was made and everything just fell into place as the Norwich University men’s basketball team upset Anna Maria College, 77-73, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest on Wednesday night.

Senior guard Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) needed just five points to achieve the 1,000 career points and scored eight points in the win, giving head coach Paul Booth his 300th career victory.

Not only did the Cadets snap Anna Maria’s nine-game winning streak, but the victory was Norwich’s first win in program history over the AMCATS, who drops to 11-8 overall and 9-3 in the GNAC, while NU improves to 7-12 on the year and 4-9 in the league.

After Tullar opened the contest with a jumper, Anna Maria responded with a pair of long bombs before Tullar and freshman guard Zygimantas Sirvydas (Silale, Lithuania) both went up for the layup to knot the game at six points apiece. Both teams traded the lead several times in the next four minutes before the AMCATS went on a 10-0 shooting spree for the 21-11 lead at the 11:53 mark.

In a span of eight minutes, freshman forward Mike Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands) would put up 10 of the 19 points in the Cadets’ 19-9 run to tie it at 30 all before freshman guard Ryan Booth (Northfield, Vt.) nailed a three-pointer at the 3:02 mark to give Norwich its second lead of the game. Anna Maria would add a bucket only to be matched by Jimmy Warden (North Andover, Mass.) as both teams headed into the locker rooms with the score in favor of the Cadets, 35-32.

The second half was a tightly contested battle that saw 10 lead changes in the stanza. Tullar would achieve the 1,000 career points milestone on the layup to open the frame. After a brief celebration, the Cadets went back to work as both teams traded baskets, leading by no more than four points until the score ended up being tied on the next two possessions.

Under five minutes remaining in the game, the Cadets held onto a 66-63 lead until a Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) three-pointer followed by a layup from Franklin Quantez (South Yarmouth, Mass.) gave the AMCATS the 68-66 lead. Norwich responded with a long bomber from junior guard Gary Gladden (Boyton Beach, Fla.) followed by a layup by Tullar to retain the lead once again until Delorey nailed his sixth trey of the night to knot it at 71 points each with 2:25 remaining in the game.

The Cadets, who hit 60.7 percent from the floor in the half, would add four points on back-to-back layups from Gladden and Hogervorst before Anna Maria’s Pat Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) went up for the layup and was fouled hard during the motion.

With five seconds remaining on the clock, the roar of Cadets in the stands came to life, rattling Bradanese as he missed the first free-throw before turning the ball over on a shooting violation during his second attempt. Junior Alex Preckol (Westford, Mass.) was quickly fouled and brought to the stripe as the 6-foot-2 forward nailed both of his free throws for the to secure the 77-73 victory as the Cadets picked up their first win over the AMCATS in program history.

Hogervorst shot 62.5 percent from the floor for a team-high 21 points, while Gladden went 6-of-11 from the field, including a trio of treys, for 15 points and five assists. Booth would finish the night with 10 points as Preckol added eight points.

Anna Maria was led by Delorey with 20 points, who shot 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, as Bradanese added 18 points on the night.

Booth, who is now in his 27th season as head coach, has recorded 249 wins in 22 seasons at Norwich University (1993-present) after notching 51 wins in four seasons at Thomas College (1988-1992). In 2007-08, he became the all-time winningest coach in Norwich history, passing Ed Hockenbury’s previous mark of 182 wins.

Norwich returns to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday, Feb. 7 when they host Saint Joseph’s (Maine) for the 1 p.m. game.

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