Green Knights Romp Past Beloit to 12th Straight Win

From Sports Information Director, January 22, 2014 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

BELOIT - St. Norbert College kept its stranglehold on the Midwest Conference lead with a 76-56 win over Beloit College at Flood Arena.

The Green Knights (14-1, 10-0 MWC), ranked No. 11 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, won for the 12th-consecutive time and kept their three game lead over second-place Ripon College with eight games remaining. Beloit dropped to 5-9, 3-6.

St. Norbert led 26-25 with 6:55 remaining in the first half before going on a 12-3 run to close out the period. Kam Cerroni's 3-pointer gave the Green Knights a 29-25 lead. Following a Beloit free throw, Andrew Schwoerer and Brandon Gries both hit a pair of free throws for a 33-26 edge. Steven Hofacker's layup with 2:52 left before intermission were the period's last points as the Green Knights took a 38-28 lead into the locker room.

The Green Knights eventually edged out to a pair of 16-point leads early in the second half before Beloit climbed back into the game, getting to within 52-46 with 11:10 to go. Gries took over as St. Norbert went on a 12-0 run. Gries started the spurt with two free throws and a layup. Following a Schwoerer jumper, Gries and Cerroni connected on consecutive 3-pointers to lead 64-46 with 8:41 to go and effectively lock down the win.

Cerroni led the Green Knights with 23 points, connecting on 7 of 9 three-point field goal attempts. Cerroni, who is shooting 55.0 percent (60-for-109) from beyond the three-point arc this season, has made 31 of 51 3-pointers (61.5 percent) in his last seven games. Gries added 19 points, while Schwoerer collected 11 points and nine rebounds.

St. Norbert shot 51.1 percent (24-for-47) from the floor and was 10-for-14 (71.4 percent) from beyond the arc. The Green Knights held a 31-24 rebounding advantage.

Beloit was led by 14 points from Tyler Butke, while Langston Booker and James Lazarcik both had 11 points apiece. The Buccaneers shot 47.8 percent (22-for-46) from the floor.