DE PERE - In the only regular-season meeting between the two teams this season, St. Norbert College needed every bit of a 22-point halftime lead to hold off pre-season Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference favorite Wisconsin Lutheran College 83-76 in a key league matchup at Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center.
St. Norbert (10-3, 5-1 NACC) moved into a first-place tie with the Warriors (10-3, 5-1), with the nearest contenders already owning at least two NACC losses.
The Green Knights enjoyed a blistering first-half offensive performance in building a 49-27 halftime lead, shooting 19 of 28 (67.9 percent) from the floor and 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from beyond the three-point line. St. Norbert trailed 9-8 before going on an 8-0 run to take a 16-9 lead on a
Garrett Grzesk layup with 12:53 left. The Green Knights held at least a four-point lead and held a 31-25 lead until closing the first half on an impressive 18-2 finishing kick.
Aidan Harrington splashed a 3-pointer to get the run started, followed by layups from
Jamison Nickolai and
Carter Gebler. Nickolai's 3-pointer pushed St. Norbert ahead 41-25 with 3:05 left. Grzesk drained a trey, and after a Wisconsin Lutheran basket,
Connor Pytleski's layup and a Grzesk triple set the Green Knights into the break up by an astonishing 22-point margin.
Each team traded baskets to open the second half, but Wisconsin Lutheran then mounted a furious rally to go on a 20-5 run to cut its deficit down to 56-49 with 12:56 remaining. St. Norbert's lead would remain in single digits the rest of the way. The Warriors got to within four five times from the 10:24 mark through the 5:36 mark, but St. Norbert would be the next team to score each time. The Green Knights were nursing a tenuous 73-69 lead when Wisconsin Lutheran had a four-shot possession, corralling three offensive rebounds, but the fourth shot - a three-point attempt by Grayson Goetz - was ripped down by Pytleski with 4:22 to go. St. Norbert was able to extend its lead on the next trip when Nickolai soared to tip-in a miss for a 75-69 lead with 3:49 left.
Wisconsin Lutheran would get to within four at 78-74 with 1:11 left, but Gebler's layup with 43 seconds to go put the Green Knights up six. The Warriors got a quick hoop to again get to within four with 34 seconds to go, but the Green Knights made 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to close out a wild victory.
St. Norbert shot 52.9 percent (27-for-51) from the floor, and offset an 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) second half by going 18-for-21 (85.7 percent) from the free-throw line in the final 20 minutes. St. Norbert also had a 34-23 rebounding advantage. The Green Knights posted five players in scoring double figures. Gebler finished with 17 points, while Nickolai added 16 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Grzesk totaled 16 points.
Evan Glaser finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Pytleski came off the bench to score 11 points.
Wisconsin Lutheran shot 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the floor and was 10-for-30 (33.3 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. Jacob Stoltz had 21 points, while Ryan Brockel added 16 points and Goetz had 14 points.
