AURORA, Ill. - St. Norbert College had three different 12-point deficits in the first half but rebounded to lead by halftime and eventually pull away to an 83-63 win over Aurora University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Thornton Gym.
The Green Knights (5-1, 2-0 NACC) found themselves trailing 19-7, 22-10 and 24-12, the last such deficit coming with 7:03 left in the first half. St. Norbert then went on an impressive 15-1 run to get back into the game and an overall 22-6 spurt over the final seven minutes to take a 34-30 halftime lead.
Ben Jelacic scored in the paint to start the 15-1 run, followed by a couple
Michael Payant baskets. After Aurora split a pair of free throws,
Jamison Nickolai registered a pair of free throws and then canned a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 25-23 with 4:06 left.
Josh Nicklaus then hit a jumper and
Evan Glaser finished off a fastbreak layup for a 27-25 lead with 2:41 to go before halftime. Aurora's Nathan Yockey hit a 3-pointer for the Spartans' last lead at 28-27. Nickolai then drained another 3-pointer to give St. Norbert the lead again.
Garrett Grzesk's hoop and a Nickolai layup put St. Norbert ahead 34-28 before Aurora got the last two points of the half.
Aurora got to within 35-33 with 19:01 left before St. Norbert pulled away, going on a 21-5 run to take a 56-38 lead with 13:07 to go, with
Jacob Bolwerk scoring 10 points during the run. The Spartans would get back to within 10 at 58-48 with 10:48 to go, but St. Norbert took a 67-48 lead on a Jelacic basket with 8:10 left to effectively decide the outcome.
St. Norbert shot 48.5 percent (32-for-66) from the floor and held a commanding 45-30 rebounding edge. Nickolai enjoyed a 19-point outing, while Bolwerk added 17 points and sveen rebounds. Payant finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Jelacic finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. The Green Knights had 16 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.
Aurora shot 39.6 percent (21-for-53) from the floor. Shamar Pumphrey led the Spartans with 14 points.
