Green Knights Fly Past Alma in Nicolet Bank Tourney Opener

From Sports Information Director, December 29, 2013 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College topped the 100-point mark for the third time in eight games this season as the Green Knights posted a 103-69 win over Alma College in their first-round game in the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights (7-1), who are ranked No. 14 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, haven't scored 100 points three times in one season since the 1975-76 season. St. Norbert will face Viterbo University at 7 p.m. Monday in the tournament championship. Alma will play Buena Vista University at 5 p.m. in the consolation game.

Alma (1-9) kept things interesting in the first half by canning the first seven 3-pointers it attempted. Chase Fairchild third 3-pointer gave the Scots a 27-21 lead with 10:58 remaining before halftime. St. Norbert answered with a 14-0 run, with Andrew Schwoerer scoring 10 points during the skein, for a 35-27 lead with 7:25 to go.

St. Norbert pushed the bulge out to 51-32 on a Bryan Dalton 3-pointer with 2:34 left in the half before Alma scored the last five points of the half to trail 51-37 at the break.

The Scots would cut the deficit down to nine at 56-47 on a D.J. Beckman hoop with 17:17 remaining. but St. Norbert went on a 10-3 run to lead 67-50 with 14:42 to go on a pair of Schwoerer free throws. Alma trailed by 12 with 9:42 to go at 72-60, but St. Norbert went on another 14-0 run to lead 86-60 with 7:10 left.

St. Norbert shot 60.6 percent from the floor, making 40 of 66 field-goal attempts. The Green Knights were 10-for-21 (47.6 percent) from beyond the three-point arc and 13-for-14 (92.9 percent) at the free-throw line. St. Norbert also had a 34-21 rebounding edge and had just eight turnovers.

Schwoerer finished with 25 points. Brandon Gries added 15, while Kam Cerroni scored 12 points and Garrett Thorn 11. Thorn and Schwoerer also had six rebounds apiece.

Alma shot 27-for-52 (51.9 percent) from the floor and canned 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) of its three-point attempts. Beckman netted 29 points, making 7 of 8 3-pointers. Fairchild scored 15 points, draining 5 of 7 3-pointers. The Scots committed 19 turnovers.