DE PERE - St. Norbert College slowly pulled away from Ripon College and went on to post a 67-43 non-conference win at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights and Red Hawks met for the 132nd time, with St. Norbert closing the deficit in the all-time series to 68-64. The 43 points matches the lowest point total for Ripon in the series since 1946.
St. Norbert had to battle through a slow shooting start to open the game, trailing 11-5 with 12:14 left in the first half. The Green Knights then went on a 17-5 run over the next 4:44 to take a 22-16 lead, fueled by 3-pointers from
Cam Lathos,
Ryan Cox (pictured) and
Will Stuckey. St. Norbert scored the last five points of the half on a trey from
Connor Pytleski and a second-chance hoop by
Will Friedenfels for a 29-21 lead at the break.
The Green Knights held a 32-26 lead with 18:59 remaining before determining the issue at hand by taking control with a 12-0 run for a 44-26 edge with 13:34 to go. Pytleski had six points and Cox five during the run. St. Norbert eventually pushed its lead north of the 20-point plateau with a 57-36 lead with 7:41 left after a Cox 3-pointers.
St. Norbert shot 39.7 percent (25-for-63) from the floor. Cox registered a career-high 21 points and added three rebounds. Pytleski stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Stuckey chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Ripon shot 29.8 percent from the floor, connecting on 17 of 57 field-goal attempts. Michael Asman had a team-high nine points.