DE PERE - St. Norbert College led for the entire second half and held off Benedictine University 71-63 in another key Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights (10-4, 6-1 NACC) stayed atop the NACC standings by keeping Benedictine (5-7, 4-3) at bay down the stretch.
St. Norbert build three separate leads of 14 points, the last coming at 48-34 with 11:22 remaining. The Eagles then went on a 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 50-45 with 7:46 to go. The Eagles would get to within five points two more times, the last coming at 55-50 with 5:58 left, but
Parker Lawrence's 3-pointer with 5:45 to go gave St. Norbert an eight-point cushion. Benedictine's Carter Knuckles converted a layup with 4:52 to go but St. Norbert cashed in on four free-throw attempts - two each from
Kyle Krueger and
Aidan Harrington, the last two coming after a Harrington steal. The Eagles would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
The Green Knights trailed 10-6 in the early going before a 10-0 run to take a 16-10 lead with 12:18 left on a
Jack Pettit jumper. Benedictine answered with a 9-0 run to take a 19-16 lead, but St. Norbert answered on baskets by
Evan Glaser,
Garrett Grzesk and
Nick Smoldt. Benedictine held a 28-26 lead late in the half before Glaser scored the period's final five points. Glaser tied the game with 51 seconds left, and then converted a conventional three-point play as time expired in the first half for a 31-28 lead.
St. Norbert then went on a 13-1 run over the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second half to lead 43-29 on
Parker Lawrence's 3-pointer.
St. Norbert shot 44.4 percent (24-for-54) from the floor. Lawrence led the Green Knights with 24 points and six assists, while Glaser finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. Pettit added eight points and six rebounds.
Benedictine shot 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the floor. Jeff Kratz led all scorers with 22 points, going 6-for-9 from beyond the three-point arc. Knuckles added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles.
