MILWAUKEE - St. Norbert College men's basketball coach Gary Grzesk won his 300th game at the school in a fitting manner, claiming a 55-48 defensive battle over Milwaukee School of Engineering in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Kern Center.

Grzesk improved to 300-103 in 16 seasons with the Green Knights. Including three seasons at Lakeland, Grzesk is 351-134 overall.

St. Norbert (10-7, 7-3 NACC) remained one game out of first place in the league standings thanks to surviving a road game where it shot just 33.3 percent (17-for-51) from the floor.

The Green Knights trailed 12-9 with 11:32 left in the first half after a Connor Voelker 3-pointer, but the Raiders went on a 10-2 run over the next 6:25 to take a 22-11 lead. St. Norbert would answer with a quick 7-0 run on baskets by Jamison Nickolai and Carter Gebler and a trey from Nickolai to get to within 22-18 with 2:44 left. A Garrett Grzesk 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer brought the Green Knights to within 25-21 at the break.

St. Norbert would tie the game at 29-29 on a 3-pointer by Michael Payant with 14:30 to go. That was part of an 11-0 St. Norbert run that saw the Green Knights take a 35-29 lead with 11:01 left on a Nickolai basket. The Raiders responded with a 9-0 run of their own, taking a 38-35 edge with 5:56 left. Grzesk then made a pair of free throws and Gebler converted a conventional three-point play with 4:59 left for a 40-38 St. Norbert lead. Two more Grzesk free throws and a Payant jumper with 2:55 to go capped off a 9-0 response for the Green Knights.

MSOE's Mason Dopirak converted a four-point play with 1:32 left, but Grzesk banged home a 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining to swing the momentum back to the Green Knights, who made all four of their free-throw attempts in the final minute of action to salt away the win.

Gebler, Grzesk and Nickolai all had 11 points apiece for St. Norbert, with Grzesk adding eight rebounds. Payant finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. The Green Knights held a 42-30 edge on the glass.

MSOE shot 34 percent (17-for-50) from the floor, with Matus Dopirak posting a team-high 11 points. Mason Dopirak added 10 points.