MILWAUKEE - St. Norbert College moved into a tie atop the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings with a hard-fought 66-60 win over Wisconsin Lutheran College at Time of Grace Center.

The Green Knights (15-7, 12-3 NACC) and Warriors (15-7, 12-3) continued to build their blossoming rivalry in a battle that featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties. Both St. Norbert and Wisconsin Lutheran have two games remaining in the NACC race.

The game was tied for the last time at 56-56 with 4:48 to go after Wisconsin Lutheran's Grayson Goetz hit a layup, but St. Norbert's Michael Payant canned a 3-pointer on the next possession to push St. Norbert back ahead by three. Neither team would score again until the Warriors got a pair of free throws with 2:18 remaining, but St. Norbert responded again on a Jamison Nickolai jumper with 1:54 left for a 61-58 lead.

Both defenses locked in again, with Wisconsin Lutheran missing its next four shots and St. Norbert missing its next two. The Warriors missed a potential game-tying trey with 25 seconds left with Garrett Grzesk clearing the rebound leading to a Nickolai free throw with 16 seconds left. Wisconsin Lutheran would get two charity tosses with 11 seconds left, but St. Norbert would close out the win with four free throws in the final 10 seconds.

A tightly contested first half saw neither team lead by more than four points until the final possession of the period. The Warriors would hold three leads of four points midway through the first half, but St. Norbert would get back to a one-possession game each time. The half saw its seventh tie at 33-33 with 2:35 left, with Brandt Wilson hitting a layup at the 1:05 mark and Grzesk canning a 3-pointer with two seconds left for a 38-33 lead at intermission.

St. Norbert opened up a 40-33 lead with 18:17 left, the Green Knights' largest lead of the game. The Green Knights continued to hold the lead and Evan Glaser's conventional three-point play with 8:20 to go pushed the visitor out to a 50-44 advantage. Wisconsin Lutheran then went on a 7-0 run to take a 51-50 lead with 6:47 left. A pair of Glaser layups help stop the bleeding and forge a 54-54 tie with 5:45 to go and set up the game's pulsating final five minutes.

The Green Knights shot 51.1 percent from the floor, making 24 of 47 field-goal attempts. St. Norbert was 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from beyond the three-point arc and outrebounded the Warriors 37-24. Payant led the Green Knights, turning in 19 points with 11 rebounds in 39 minutes of action. Glaser had 17 points with five rebounds and four assists, while Grzesk added 13 points.

Wisconsin Lutheran shot 37.5 percent (21-for-56) from the floor and was 10-for-29 (34.5 percent) from distance. Simeon Strauss led the Warriors with 15 points, while Trevor Stiede added 11 points and Ryan Broeckel 10 points.