St. Norbert Grinds Out Win at Lake Forest

From Sports Information Director, February 8, 2017 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - St. Norbert College kept its two-game lead in the Midwest Conference standings by winning a hard-fought 59-52 decision over Lake Forest College at the LFC Sports Center.

The Green Knights (17-3, 14-1 MWC), ranked No. 9 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, maintained their two-game edge on Ripon College in the MWC standings with three regular-season games remaining.

St. Norbert had to grind out a low-possession battle, holding off a late surge from the host Foresters.

The Green Knights went on a 12-0 run early in the second half to turn a 30-29 lead into a 42-29 edge following a 3-pointer by Connor Curtis with 11:47 remaining. Lake Forest promptly responded with an 11-0 run of its own, finished by a conventional three-point play by Eric Porter to trail 42-40 with 8:51 to go.

St. Norbert would get some breathing room by scoring the next four points, getting a layup from Terrence Garner and a pair of D.J. DeValk free throws on the next two possessions. The Foresters would close to within three points a couple of times, including 49-46 with 5:33 left, but a Ben Bobinski 3-pointer with 5:08 to go put St. Norbert up 52-46.

The Foresters would get to within 56-52 with 47 seconds left, but DeValk swished a pair of free throws with 40 seconds left for a six-point lead and effectively decide the outcome.

St. Norbert shot 53.5 percent (23-for-43) from the floor and got double figures in scoring from four starters. DeValk and Bobinski had 13 points apiece. Terrence Garner had 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Mitchell Reinthaler added 11 points.

Lake Forest shot 40 percent (22-for-55) from the floor and held a slim 28-27 rebounding edge. Porter led the FOresters with 15 points, while Orlando Brown added 12 points and Jim Schick 11 points.