Green Knights Finish MWC Regular Season Perfect

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

DE PERE - St. Norbert College became the first team in Midwest Conference history to finish 18-0 after it dispatched Illinois College 90-63 on Senior Day at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights (22-1, 18-0 MWC), ranked No. 5 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, extended their winning streak to 20 games. St. Norbert will host Carroll University at 6 p.m. Friday in a Midwest Conference Tournament semifinal at Schuldes Sports Center. Grinnell College will face Ripon College at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the other semifinal.

St. Norbert slowly pulled away in the first half. The Green Knights led 24-17 with 9:25 left in the first half before going on a quick 8-0 run to take control. Andy Fox hit a jumper to get things started, and Andrew Schwoerer canned a pair of jumpers to extend the lead. Garrett Thorn's hoop put St. Norbert ahead 32-17 with 6:48 left.

The Blueboys (13-10, 9-9) got back to within 34-24 with 5:03 left, but St. Norbert had another quick run of 10-3, going ahead 44-27 on Austin Elliott's 3-pointer. St. Norbert settled on a 48-32 halftime lead.

Illinois College trailed 57-44 with 13:20 to go, but Kam Cerroni connected on a 3-pointer and Schwoerer followed with a basket to push the lead to 62-44 with 12:10 to go. The Blueboys would get no closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

St. Norbert had five players reach double figures, led by 14 points apiece from Cerroni and Schwoerer. Brandon Gries had 11 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Izaiah Anderson added 11 points, while Thorn had 10 points. The Green Knights shot 59.4 percent (38-for-64) from the floor and outrebounded Illinois College 37-22.

Chris Marrs and Brandon Berry had 15 points apiece to lead Illinois College. The Blueboys shot 40.7 percent (22-for-54) from the floor.