St. Norbert Shoots Down Illinois College

From Sports Information Director, January 14, 2011 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - St. Norbert College had an offensive revival as it canned 17 three-point field goals en route to an 87-73 Midwest Conference win over Illinois College.

The Green Knights, who hadn't scored at least 70 points in their last eight games, improved to 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the MWC with the win. Illinois College fell to 9-3, 5-2. St. Norbert, Illinois College, Ripon and Lawrence are now all tied for first place in the loss column in the MWC standings.

St. Norbert's 17 3-pointers were one short of the school record of 18 set against Silver Lake last season. The Green Knights were 17-for-29 from beyond the three-point arc, good for a lusty 58.6 percent success rate.

The Green Knights held a 57-55 lead with 13 minutes 57 seconds left until Paul Appleton connected on a 3-pointer for a 60-55 edge. After a Blueboys basket, St. Norbert answered with three-straight treys from David Wipperfurth, Appleton and Chris Peterson for a 69-57 lead with 10:09 to go. Illinois College's Craig Bals hit a trifecta to cut it to 69-60 with 10 minutes left, but John Taylor answered with a 3-pointer of his own and St. Norbert would never lead by less than 12 the rest of the game.

Five St. Norbert players scored in double figures, led by Peterson's 18 points. Wipperfurth added 16 and Taylor and Steve Papke had 14 apiece. Appleton came off the bench to score 15 points, burying all five of his 3-pointers. Taylor also had 10 assists. St. Norbert shot 53.3 percent (32-for-60) from the floor and outrebounded the Blueboys 34-19.

Illinois College was led by Jacob Tucker's 17 points. Bals added 14 points and Chris Marrs 12. The Blueboys shot 54 percent (27-for-50) from the floor.