DE PERE – St. Norbert College closed out the regular season with a 78-63 win over Marian University for a ninth straight win to head into the postseason in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center.  

The Green Knights (19-6, 15-3 NACC) faced few issues with the Sabres, holding a 35-24 lead at halftime before leading by over 20 points for most of the second half.  

After trailing 12-11 at 10:02 in the first half, the Green Knights took back a quick 19-12 lead thanks to work from seniors Brandt Wilson and Jamison Nickolai (pictured). Most of the St. Norbert points in the final six minutes of the half came from the free throw line, as five were knocked down by the Green Knights in that frame. Three pointers were also flying for the Green Knights, as three straight scoring possessions ended in treys from Nickolai, Garrett Grzesk and Cole Uhlenbrauck.  

The paint points proved vital to St. Norbert in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring eight points from close range in the first five minutes of the second half. The Green Knights again found their way to the free throw line often in the second half, thanks to early foul trouble for Marian and scoring 13 points from the charity stripe.  

A 3-pointer from Will Stuckey gave St. Norbert its biggest lead of the day at 62-33 with 8:57 left in the second half. All five seniors shared several minutes on the court for one of the final times before being sent off with a standing ovation from the Green Knight faithful after extending the lead to 75-48 with 3:46 remaining.  

St. Norbert shot 46.3 percent from the floor (25-for-54). The Green Knights drained eight threes and went 20-for-22 (90.9 percent) from the free throw line. Senior Jamison Nickolai closed out his final regular season game for St. Norbert with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Wilson had 13 points while Uhlenbrauck added 10 from the bench. 

The Green Knights outrebounded the Sabres 44-27.  

Marian shot 37.7 percent from the floor (20-for-53). Andrew Ayeni and Alex Vassilakis each finished with 11 points for the Sabres.  

The Green Knights will turn their sights on the NACC tournament as the two seed. They will face Aurora University in a quarterfinal game at Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center on Wednesday, February 26 at 7 p.m.