St. Norbert Douses Prairie Fire

From Sports Information Director, December 2, 2016 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GALESBURG, Ill. - St. Norbert College held an opponent under 40 points for the fourth time in the Gary Grzesk era as the Green Knights opened Midwest Conference play with a 76-37 win over Knox College at Memorial Gym.

The Green Knights (2-1, 1-0 MWC), ranked No. 10 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, won for the 65th consecutive time against a Midwest Conference opponent.

St. Norbert's defense held Knox to its 37-point total, the fourth time in Grzesk's 11 seasons the Green Knights have held a team under 40 points. The Green Knights last did so on Jan. 31, 2015 in a 75-30 win over Carroll University.

The Green Knights broke open a close game midway through the first half. Holding an 11-10 lead, the Green Knights went on an 11-0 run to take control. Mitchell Reinthaler's jumper started the run, followed by 3-pointers from Ben Bobinski, Joe Lemon and Bobinski for a 22-10 edge with 6:09 left in the half.

Knox cut the deficit to 25-16 with 4:10 left but the Green Knights went on a 9-0 run on triples from Lemon, D.J. DeValk and Taylor Penn for a 34-16 lead with 1:52 to go. St. Norbert led 36-21 at halftime.

St. Norbert pulled away midway through the second half when it scored on 6 of 7 possessions to take a 58-30 lead with 10:40 to go on a Reinthaler basket. The Green Knights never led by less than 25 points the rest of the game.

The Green Knights shot 45.2 percent (28-for-62) from the floor. DeValk had a game-high 14 points, while Bobinski finished with 12 points and Lemon 11 points.

Knox shot 35.7 percent (15-for-42) from the floor and was harried into 20 turnovers. Robert Suntken had a team-high seven points.