DE PERE - A terrific start on both ends of the floor lifted St. Norbert College to a 72-53 win over Concordia University Wisconsin in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights (13-7, 10-3 NACC) moved into second place with the win, coupled with Wisconsin Lutheran College's 72-65 win at Marian University. St. Norbert trails Wisconsin Lutheran (14-6, 11-2) by a game, and leads Marian (11-8, 9-3) by a half-game in the NACC race.
St. Norbert got off to a quick lead against a weary Concordia team playing its fourth game in eight days. Baskets by
Carter Gebler,
Garrett Grzesk and
Aidan Harrington gave the Grenn Knights a 6-0 lead. The Falcons got back to within 15-7 with 11:41 left in the half before St. Norbert went on a 18-2 run.
Jamison Nickolai converted a four-point play for a 21-7 lead with 10 minutes left. Nickolai then cashed in a pair of 3s before a
Michael Payant triple. Nickolai then buried another trey for a 33-9 lead with 5:56 left before halftime.
Evan Glaser's conventional three-point play and a triple from
Brandt Wilson pushed St. Norbert out to its biggest lead at 39-12 with 3:20 left. The Falcons would score the last eight points of the half to trail 39-20 at the break.
The Green Knights scoreless streak would eventually last 9:09, with the Falcons closing to 39-28 with 14:40 to go before Payant's 3 with 14:11 left snapped the 16-0 run. A Gebler 3-pointer put St. Norbert ahead 53-35 with 10:39 to go, which would be the Green Knights' last field goal until 4:12 remained. St. Norbert would make 7 of 8 free throws over that 6:27 stretch to keep its lead, and a traditional three-point play by Nickolai put it ahead 63-43 with 4:12 to go and effectively sealed the outcome.
St. Norbert shot 49 percent (25-for-51) from the floor and was 10-for-21 (47.6 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. Nickolai poured in a career-high 22 and grabbed seven rebounds. Gebler added 11 points and six assists, while Payant and
Evan Glaser had 10 points.
Concordia shot 41.2 percent (21-for-51) from the floor. Jared Jurss and Matt LeVene led the Falcons with 11 points apiece.
