St. Norbert Edged By Augustana in Nicolet National Bank Tournament Title Game
From Sports Information Director, December 30, 2010 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077
The Green Knights, ranked No. 12 by D3hoops.com, fell to 8-2 on the year. Augustana, ranked No. 10, remained unbeaten at 10-0.
Bryant Voiles canned a 3-pointer from the right wing with 2 minutes 21 seconds left to giving the Vikings a seemingly comfortable 57-50 lead, but the visitors would not score the rest of the game. David Wipperfurth split a pair of free throws with 2:07 to go to make it 57-51.
St. Norbert's defense forced Augustana into a turnover and John Taylor canned a 3 with 1:46 left. The Vikings missed a short shot and Wipperfurth was fouled on the rebound, connecting on his two free throws to make it 57-56 with 1:08 left. The Vikings turned it over again, but Wipperfurth's 16-footer with 36 seconds left was short. The rebound resulted in a held ball going to Augustana.
Taylor stole inbounds pass, leading to the game's final possession. Taylor had about a 12-foot elbow jumper fall just shy with 3 seconds left, and Augustana chased down the loose ball in the ensuing scrum to end the game.
St. Norbert held its biggest lead at 14-9 about seven minutes into the game, but Augustana rallied to go up by as much as nine at 27-18 with 2:04 left before halftime. An 8-2 St. Norbert run closed out the first half to 29-26.
Wipperfurth led St. Norbert with 13 points, while Taylor added 10 points with five assists and one turnover in 34 minutes. Both were named to the all-tournament team. St. Norbert shot 38.3 percent (18-for-47) from the floor but canned 9 of 15 3-pointers.
Augustana did not have a player score in double figures. Kameron Norton led the Vikings with nine points off the bench, while Kyle Nelson and Voiles each had eight points. All three were named all-tournament, with Voiles being selected as the MVP.