Big Second Half Lifts St. Norbert to 40th Straight MWC Win

From Sports Information Director, February 10, 2015 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College shot a lusty 79.2 percent from the floor in the second half to lift it to a 93-80 win over Lake Forest College in a Midwest Conference game at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights (20-1, 16-0 MWC), ranked No. 7 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, won for the 40th consecutive time against a MWC opponent. The skein is one short of the league record of 41, set by Beloit College from 1947-51.

St. Norbert, which led 37-34 at halftime, converted 19 of 24 field-goal attempts in the second half and was also 15-for-16 at the free-throw line in the final 20 minutes.

Lake Forest (9-11, 8-8) tied the game at 39-39 on a Brian Madson 3-pointer with 18:25 left, but Austin Elliott canned a 3-pointer on St. Norbert's next possession and the Green Knights never lost their lead after that. St. Norbert scored on its next four possessions after the Elliott triple, including a 3-pointer from Ben Bobinski and a conventional three-point play by Andrew Schwoerer, to take a 52-45 lead with 14:58 left.

St. Norbert finally took back a double-digit lead at 67-57 on a Schwoerer jumper with 8:04 to go. The Foresters would get to within nine at 69-60 with 6:27 remaining, but Schwoerer converted a pair of layups for a 73-60 advantage with 5:35 left.

The Green Knights were hot early, taking a 30-13 lead to start the game on a Steven Hofacker jumper with 9:26 left in the first half. St. Norbert would only score seven points the rest of the half, allowing the Foresters to pull to within 37-34 at the break.

Bobinski and Hofacker both finished with 21 points, each posting a career scoring high. Schwoerer added 20 points, while Elliott had 14 points and eight assists. St. Norbert, the nation's top field-goal shooting team, finished 57.9 percent (33-for-57) from the floor and was also 19-for-20 at the charity stripe.

Lake Forest shot 44.6 percent (29-for-65) from the floor and was a perfect 10-for-10 at the free-throw line. Andrew Toth led the Foresters with 24 points, while Danny Nikitas added 18 points.