WHEATON, Ill. - St. Norbert College saw a tremendous run come to a close with a hard-fought 75-71 loss to Wheaton College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at King Arena.
The Green Knights, who were 7-7 on Jan. 7, saw their season come to a close at 20-8 with Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference regular-season and tournament championships and a first-round NCAA Tournament win in tow. Wheaton (24-4), champions of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, advances to a sectional semifinal against University of St. Joseph (Conn.) next weekend.
St. Norbert trailed 72-63 with 50 seconds left before mounting a last-ditch rally that came within a whisker of forcing overtime.
Garrett Grzesk's 3-pointer with 43.3 seconds left made it 72-66. Wheaton missed a front end of a 1-and-1 and
Carter Gebler's 3 with 30.1 seconds left had the Green Knights suddenly within 72-69. Wheaton split a pair of free throws and Gebler made two with 19.7 seconds left to get it to 73-71. The Thunder again split a pair of free throws and St. Norbert had a chance to tie, but a pair of three-point attempts were short before Wheaton secured a final rebound and free throw.
The Green Knights trailed early with Wheaton taking a 20-8 lead just over seven minutes into the game. St. Norbert responded with a 15-0 run to get back into the game.
Aidan Harrington hit a 3-pointer and a hoop to get the run started, while
Michael Payant had a conventional three-point play. A pair of
Evan Glaser baskets put St. Norbert ahead 21-20 at the 9:28 mark, while Gebler's jumper in the paint gave St. Norbert a 23-20 lead at 9:04. Wheaton would take a small lead before the Green Knights took a 29-28 lead on a Grzesk jumper at the 5:11 mark, their last lead of the game. Wheaton would lead 40-36 at halftime.
St. Norbert trailed Wheaton 56-47 with 12:34 to go, holding the Thunder to 19 points the rest of the game. Wheaton led 60-52 with 9:42 left and neither team scored again until
Aidan Harrington's 3-pointer with 6:02 to go brought the Green Knights within five. St. Norbert would not cut the deficit below five points until the final minute.
The Green Knights shot an even 50 percent (25-for-50) from the floor, and fell to 18-1 this season when shooting at least 40 percent from the floor. St. Norbert was 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) from distance and 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) at the free-throw line. Glsaer had 19 points, while Harrington had 14 points. Gebler finished with 13 points and Grzesk had 12. Payant finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
Wheaton shot 45.5 percent (25-for-55) from the floor and was 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. Tyson Cruickshank led all scorers with 26 points, while TJ Askew finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Thunder held a scant 33-32 rebounding advantage.
