DE PERE – St. Norbert College got off to a hot start in the second half and rode the momentum to a 79-69 win over St. Olaf College in the opening round of the 18th Annual Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
 
The Green Knights (7-3) will face No. 3-ranked UW-La Crosse (9-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the tournament's championship game.
 
St. Norbert and St. Olaf slogged through a first half that saw the Green Knights rally from a nine-point deficit to take a 28-27 halftime lead. Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Green Knights opened the first 2:37 of the second half on 13-4 run, fueled by three three-point field goals from Cole Uhlenbrauck (pictured). A Will Stuckey layup put St. Norbert ahead 41-31 with 17:23 to go.
 
St. Olaf cut the deficit down to five before a 7-0 St. Norbert run led to a 48-36 lead following a Mason Freiburger basket with 13:58 remaining. The lead went back to single digits for most of the rest of the game, with the Oles getting to within 64-60 with 5:00 left. Stuckey responded with a key 3-pointer on the next possession to bump the lead back to seven. A Freiburger putback with 2:27 left put the Green Knights ahead 72-63 and effectively sealed the outcome.
 
St. Norbert shot 47.5 percent (27-for-59) from the floor, including 18-for-29 (62.1 percent) in the second half. Stuckey finished with 19 points and five assists. Uhlenbrauck finished with 16 points, all in the second half. Connor Pytleski had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Cam Lathos added 10 points and eight rebounds. St. Norbert held a 43-30 rebounding edge.
 
St. Olaf shot 41.4 percent (24-for-58) from the floor. Kobe Kirk finished with a game-high 23 points, while AJ Uhl added 15 points and eight rebounds.