MEQUON - St. Norbert College couldn't slow down Concordia University Wisconsin in the second half and saw its season come to a close with an 88-79 loss in the semifinals of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament at Buuck Fieldhouse.

The Green Knights (16-10) allowed 52 second-half points, with Concordia shooting 56.6 percent (30-for-53) from the floor for the game and 48 percent (12-for-25) from beyond the three-point arc. The Falcons also outrebounded St. Norbert 35-21.

St. Norbert fell behind 17-0 to start the game, missing its first 10 field-goal attempts until Kyle Krueger broke through at the 14:34 mark. The Falcons' Jared Jurss canned a 3-pointer on the next possession to put St. Norbert behind 20-2. The Green Knights still trailed 31-13 with 9:34 left in the first half until rallying, closing out the half with a 26-5 run to take a 39-36 halftime lead. Jacob Bolwerk had 13 points during the run, while Michael Payant added two 3-pointers.

Krueger's layup to start the second half put St. Norbert up 41-36, but the Falcons would go on a 6-0 run to take a 42-41 lead. Baskets by Bolwerk and Payant put St. Norbert ahead 45-42 with 16:58 left, but the Falcons would score on their next three possession to go up 50-47 with 15:26 to go and would never relinquish the lead after that point. St. Norbert trailed 64-60 with 9:15 left after a Carter Gebler trey, but Concordia went on a 9-2 run to lead 73-62.

The Green Knights would make one last-ditch rally, with a Payant hoop getting St. Norbert to within 80-77 with 1:24 left, but a Jordan Johnson jumper with 1:10 to go stemmed the tide and St. Norbert did not make a field goal the rest of the way.

St. Norbert shot 45.9 percent (28-for-61) from the floor and had just seven turnovers. Bolwerk finished with 24 points, while Payant added 17 points. Krueger came off the bench to add 12 points.

Garrett Hoffmann led Concordia with 26 points, while Johnson added 20 points.