MILWAUKEE – Behind an impressive second-half defensive effort, St. Norbert College rallied to a 71-59 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran College in the championship game of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference at Time of Grace Center.
 
St. Norbert (19-7) clinched its 10th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance with the win and the eighth since 2010. The Green Knights also claimed their first conference tournament championship game win on the road since 1984.
 
The Green Knights appeared to be in dire straits, trailing 36-27 at halftime. St. Norbert then held the Warriors to 23 second-half points to charge back for the win.
 
Carter Gebler scored the first five points of the second half to cut the deficit to 36-32 with 18:43 left. The Green Knights continued to whittle the deficit down until Evan Glaser's layup tied the game at 40-40 with 14:10 to go. Wisconsin Lutheran answered with a trey from Jacob Stoltz at the 13:32 mark, but St. Norbert continued to rally with a 9-0 run. Garrett Grzesk's 3-pointer gave St. Norbert the lead at 45-43 with 11:45 left. Michael Payant and Jamison Nickolai hit baskets for a 49-43 lead with 10:17 to play.
 
St. Norbert led 51-49 with 6:44 to go and then went on a 6-0 run. Grzesk hit a pair of free throws, Gebler hit a layup and Nickolai hit both ends of a 1-and-1 for a 57-49 lead with 5:23 to go. Stoltz then swished a 3 for Wisconsin Lutheran with 5:12 left to cut it to 57-52, but St. Norbert then went on a 5-0 run. Payant drained a 3-pointer and Glaser made two free throws for a 62-52 lead with 3:27 to go. Wisconsin Lutheran would cut the deficit back to six points, but would get no closer. Nickolai converted all three free-throw attempts after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 1:28 left for a 68-59 lead and effectively seal the outcome.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran led for most of the first half, erasing a 14-12 deficit midway through the first half by going on a 24-13 run over the final 10 minutes of the period. The Warriors led by 11 late in the first half before Payant's layup with five seconds left set the teams into the locker room with the Warriors ahead 36-27.
 
St. Norbert shot 43.1 percent (22-for-51) from the floor and was 50 percent (11-for-22) in the second half. Gebler led the Green Knights with 20 points, with 16 coming in the second half. Nickolai had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Payant had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Glaser had 14 points and nine rebounds.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran shot 31 percent (22-for-71) for the game and was 8-for-37 (21.6 percent) in the second half. The Warriors were 6-for-34 (17.6 percent) from beyond the three-point arc and 3-for-20 (15 percent) in the second half. Ryan Broeckel led the Warriors with 22 points.