Green Knights Move to 6-0 for First Time in 87 Years

From Sports Information Director, December 5, 2009 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

MONMOUTH, Ill. - St. Norbert College moved to 6-0 to start a men's basketball season for the first time in 87 years with a 70-58 Midwest Conference win over Monmouth College at Glennie Gym.

The Green Knights were last 6-0 during the Harding Administration, with St. Norbert posting an 8-0 record during the 1922-23 season. St. Norbert has now won 36 of its last 47 games.

St. Norbert (6-0, 2-0 MWC) had a cold offensive start to the game but its defense kept them within striking distance. John Taylor and Dave Wipperfurth canned consecutive 3-pointers for an 11-10 lead six minutes into the game, but the Green Knights would not score a basket for the next seven minutes. St. Norbert still had 17-14 lead on Jake Dietz's basket with 6:56 left in the half thanks to going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in the interim. The Green Knights closed the last two minutes of the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 35-28 lead into halftime.

Monmouth (1-5, 0-2 MWC) trailed 37-34 early in the second half before St. Norbert went on a quick 10-4 run to take a 47-38 lead with 14:13 to go, capped off by a Paul Mallers 3-pointer. The Scots would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way, the last time being 52-45 with 8:43 left on Eric Cogdill's conventional three-point play.

St. Norbert overcame a 34.5 percent (20-for-58) shooting night with outstanding ball security, committing only five turnovers. The Green Knights were also a stellar 23-for-26 (88.5 percent) at the free-throw line. Taylor pumped in a career-high 25 points, and was 11-for-12 at the charity stripe. Wipperfurth added 16 points and was 4-for-5 on 3-pointers. Steve Papke netted nine points with seven rebounds.

Monmouth shot 41.5 percent from the floor, making 22 of 53 shots. The Scots only got to the free-throw line 11 times, making 10, and had 13 turnovers. Monmouth, which had a 38-33 rebounding advantage, got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Cogdill. Zach Ott added 13 points for Monmouth.