DE PERE – St. Norbert College got past a pesky Illinois Institute of Technology at the charity stripe, defeating the Scarlet Hawks 71-63 in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center.  

The Green Knights (12-6, 8-3 NACC) took the lead at 1:06 in the first half after trailing for most of the opening period. Despite not being able to turn many field goals into points in the second half, the Green Knights converted 18 free throw attempts to keep the lead.  

The Scarlet Hawks opened the game on a 12-6 run, before a Jaeden Grade basket tied the game at 14 at 9:34. Illinois Tech seemed to be one step ahead of the Green Knights for most of the half, regrowing their lead to a several possession game after St. Norbert would close the gap only to lose momentum.  

A triple threat of 3-pointers from Garrett Grzesk and Connor Pytleski turned the game in the favor of St. Norbert, with Grzek's second three at 1:06 giving the Green Knights the lead back at 28-25. Grzesk would have a third triple just before the buzzer, giving St. Norbert a 33-25 lead at the break.  

The Green Knights would make the most of their free throw opportunities in the second half, going to the line 21 times, making up for a cold streak from the floor in the final 10 minutes.  

A late Scarlet Hawks surge brought the lead down to 65-60 in the final 30 seconds, but with Jamison Nickolai (pictured) and Grade combining to go 6-for-6 in that frame it was too late for the visitors.  

St. Norbert shot 33.3 percent from the floor (20-for-60). Nickolai led the way with a double-double performance of 20 points and 15 rebounds. St. Norbert shot 70 percent from free throw opportunities (14-for-20). The Green Knights were outrebounded by Illinois Tech, 40-39.  

Illinois Tech shot 40.7 percent from the floor (22-for-54). DeAndre Vortes led the Scarlet Hawks with 18 points.