St. Norbert Men Win Sixth Straight at Home

From Sports Information Director, January 19, 2008 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - A stellar defensive effort was the impetus behind the St. Norbert College men's basketball team winning its sixth straight home game with a 60-45 decision over Lake Forest College at Schuldes Sports Center. The Green Knights are now 8-6 overall and 4-3 in the Midwest Conference. Lake Forest fell to 7-3, 3-3.

It marked the fourth time this season St. Norbert has held an opponent to 50 points or less.

St. Norbert held a 20-17 lead with 6 minutes left in the first half before closing the frame on a 12-1 run. Mike Dowden's 3pointer got the run started, followed by a Tom Katzfey free throw, another Dowden 3, yet another triple from Dave Wipperfurth and a layup by Eric Bieniasz. St. Norbert shot 57.9 percent in the first half, making 11 of 19 shots.

Lake Forest would get to within 45-38 with 9:45 left before St. Norbert would push its lead back to 52-40, with the Green Knights getting five points in the spurt from Eric Bieniasz. Lake Forest's Jeremy Beyersdorf hit a 3-pointer with 6:09 left to cut the deficit to 52-43, but neither team would score again until Bieniasz hit two free throws with 1:32 left for a 54-43 lead. The Green Knights were 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes of the game.

Bieniasz and Tony Jandron both had 14 points to lead St. Norbert, while Dowden added 11. St. Norbert shot 44.2 percent for the game, making 19 of 43 field goals. The Green Knights canned 9 of 20 3-point attempts. St. Norbert was 13-for-15 from the free-throw line.

Hoyt Rees led Lake Forest with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Laird Walker added 11 points. The Foresters shot 35.4 percent from the floor, making 17 of 48 field goals. Lake Forest hit on just 3 of 16 3-pointers and attempted just 10 free throws, making eight.