RIPON - St. Norbert College recovered from a slow start with a dominating second half as the Green Knights gained a 67-59 win in the 131st meeting against longtime rival Ripon College in a non-conference game at Willmore Center.

The Green Knights (2-0) trailed 20-6 just over nine minutes into the game but battled back to trail by just eight at halftime, with Jaeden Grade's 3-pointer just beating the buzzer to make it 36-28 at the break.

St. Norbert turned up the defense to open the second half, going on a 19-2 run over the first 8:50 to take a 47-38 lead. Jamison Nickolai opened the scoring with a conventional three-point play, followed by a Brandt Wilson (pictured) layup. Aidan Harrington's 3-pointer off a Wilson offensive rebound knotted the game at 36-36 with 16:11 to go. The Green Knights then took a 38-36 lead on a Harrington fastbreak layup. Ripon stopped the bleeding with a hoop, but Charlie Geske's two free throws and another Harrington basket gave St. Norbert a 42-38 lead with 14:37 left. Nickolai splashed a 3-pointer and Wilson split a pair of free throws for a 47-38 lead with 11:10 to go.

Ripon (2-2) would soon cut its deficit down to two points twice, including 49-47 with 8:35 left. Wilson converted a conventional three-point play at 7:54 for a 52-47 lead. Following a pair of Red Hawks free throws, Wilson again scored inside and Nickolai hit a pair of free throws for a 56-49 edge with 6:56 left.

St. Norbert held a 61-53 lead after a Connor Pytleski basket with 3:32 left, but Ripon would make a last-ditch rally to close to 61-59 with 53 seconds left. The Green Knights would make 6 of 8 free throws the rest of the way to close out the win.

The Green Knights shot 44.7 percent from the floor, making 21 of 47 field-goal attempts, and were 21-for-33 (63.6 percent) at the free-throw line. Nickolai had 12 points, Harrington 11 points and Pytleski 10 points and eight rebounds. Wilson finished with nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.

Ripon shot 19-for-64 (29.7 percent) from the floor, including 7-for-34 (20.6 percent) in the second half. Cade Tackmier led the Red Hawks with 16 points and 12 rebounds.