DE PERE - St. Norbert College remained unbeaten in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference by outlasting Aurora University in a hard-fought 69-52 decision at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.

The Green Knights (4-2, 3-0 NACC) won their fourth consecutive game by pulling away over the game's final nine minutes.

St. Norbert held a tenuous 42-39 lead with 9:22 to play, but Jamison Nickolai's offensive rebound putback basket with 9:04 left jump-started a 13-0 run for the Green Knights that sealed the outcome. Carter Gebler made a pair of free throws, followed by nine consecutive points by Michael Payant to see the St. Norbert lead rupture into a 55-39 advantage with 5:46 to go.

The Green Knights trailed 8-4 in the early going but then went on an 11-0 run to take a 15-8 lead on an Evan Glaser basket with 10:15 left in the first half. St. Norbert saw its lead eventually reach double digits at 26-15 on a pair of Payant free throws with 3:34 left. The Green Knights led by 13 late in the half before settling on a 32-23 lead at the break.

St. Norbert led 42-32 with 12:37 left after a pair of Connor Voelker free throws, but Aurora would score the next seven points to cut it to 42-39 with 9:22 to go and set up St. Norbert's final push.

The Green Knights shot 43.1 percent (22-for-51) from the floor. Payant finished with 23 points, six rebounds and six steals, while also finishing 11-for-14 at the free-throw line. Kyle Krueger added 11 points.

Aurora shot 35.4 percent (17-for-48) from the floor. Noah Butler had 14 points to lead the Spartans, while Michael Osborne added 12 points.