ROCKFORD, Ill. - St. Norbert College recovered from a cold-shooting start with a solid defensive effort to top Rockford University 73-59 in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Seaver Center.

The Green Knights (3-2, 2-0 NACC) trailed by as many as nine points in the first half after shooting 38.7 percent (12-for-31) from the floor before trailing 30-29 at intermission. St. Norbert then shot 61.9 percent (13-for-21) from the floor in the final 20 minutes. St. Norbert held Rockford to 29.8 percent (17-for-57) shooting from the floor.

Rockford built a 17-8 lead midway through the first half before St. Norbert went on an 11-2 run over a 6-minute stretch to tie things at 19-19 on a Ryan Cox basket. The Regents came again, going on an 8-0 run to lead 27-19 with 2:14 left before the break. Jaeden Grade (pictured) hit a 3-pointer and made a pair of bonus free throws, while Connor Pytleski hit a 3-pointer just before the break to cap a key 10-3 run to trail by one at the rest stop.

The Regents split a pair of free throws to open the second-half scoring to go up two, but a Will Stuckey hoop and a pair of free throws gave St. Norbert the lead with 17:20 to go at 33-31. St. Norbert held a 35-33 edge when Mason Freiburger finished a conventional three-point play to go up 38-33 with 14:32 remaining. The Green Knights then had a five-point trip after Grade made 3 of 4 free throws after a pair of Rockford technical fouls and a Freiburger hoop was good for a 43-33 lead with 13:54 left. St. Norbert never led by less than nine points the rest of the way and eventually built a 17-point lead with about 8 minutes left.

St. Norbert finished 25-for-52 (48.1 percent) from the floor. Stuckey had a team-high 14 points, while Freiburger added 13 points and Grade 12 points. Charlie Geske and Reid Rosseland added to St. Norbert's 29-point bench effort with seven points apiece.

DeVon Oregon led the Regents with 17 points, while Jaden Bell added 14 points.