AURORA, Ill. - St. Norbert College rallied from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to claim a 56-50 win over Aurora University in a key Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Thornton Gym.

The Green Knights (11-3, 6-0 NACC) opened up a 2 1/2-game lead on the Spartans (10-4, 3-2) by coming back late.

Things looked dire for St. Norbert when Aurora took a 42-35 lead with 8:02 remaining. The Green Knights charged back with a big response, going on a 12-2 run to surge ahead. Rose Hahn's second-chance basket got the run started, followed by a pair of Casey Jepson free throws. Following a Spartans free throw, Taylor Thiry converted a layup to cut the deficit to 43-41 with 6:31 to go. Aurora again split a pair of free throws, but Oakley Witteck and Thiry followed with hoops for a 45-44 lead with 5:05 left. Emma Morrisey (pictured) then capped the run with two free throws at the 4:05 mark to take a 47-44 lead.

Aurora would tie it at 47-47 with 2:34 to go, but Thiry found the mark inside again 14 seconds later to give the Green Knights the lead. Aurora retied the game on a pair of free throws with 2:05 left, but Morrisey's driving layup gave the Green Knights the lead for good. Aurora would split a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left and then missed a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left that could have given it the lead. The Green Knights nursed a 52-50 lead inside 10 seconds but drew an offensive foul and converted all four free throws the rest of the way.

St. Norbert fell behind 15-9 after the first quarter but rallied in the second quarter to take a slim 24-22 lead at intermission. Aurora went on a 9-0 run early in the third quarter to take a 31-26 lead before settling on a 36-33 edge at the final rest stop.

St. Norbert shot 36.1 percent (22-for-61) from the floor and ground out the win despite going 0-for-21 from beyond the three-point arc. The Green Knights held a 43-37 rebounding advantage. Thiry had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Witteck added 10 points off the bench. Morrisey had six points and six assists along with four rebounds.

Aurora shot 18-for-53 (34.0 percent) from the field and was 5-for-25 (20 percent) from the perimeter. Riley Doggett led the Spartans with 15 points.