St. Norbert Bounces Back to Trim Ripon

From Sports Information Director, January 10, 2012 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College bounced back from a weekend loss with an impressive 73-59 Midwest Conference win over Ripon College on Connie Tilley Court at Schuldes Sports Center.

St. Norbert (7-5, 4-3 MWC) had lost three of its last four games entering the contest, and has now won 10 of its last 11 games against Ripon - including a 7-0 mark at home. Ripon dropped to 8-3, 4-2.

The Green Knights trailed 19-15 with 9 minutes 13 seconds left in the first half, but then went on an 11-2 run to take a 26-21 lead with 5:46 to go before halftime. Ripon got back to within 28-27 with 1:24 left before halftime, but 3-pointers by Trent Monckton and Andy Fox in the final minute gave St. Norbert a 34-27 halftime lead.

Brandon Gries canned a 3-pointer to open the second half to give St. Norbert a 10-point edge, and Ripon wouldn't get to within eight points the rest of the way. St. Norbert led 40-32 with 17:02 to go before an 11-0 run cushioned the advantage to 51-32. The Red Hawks pulled to within 56-46 with 9:42 left, but St. Norbert's 7-0 run - which included a desperation banked 3-pointer by Jack Whalen - pushed the lead to 63-46 with 7:30 left.

St. Norbert snapped out of an offensive slump by making 50.9 percent of its shot, making 27 of 53 field-goal attempts. The Green Knights were also 7-for-14 from beyond the three-point arc. Monckton almost doubled his career-high point total with a 15-point effort. Garrett Thorn had 13 points, while Gries added 11.

Taylor Koth had 28 points to lead Ripon, which shot 41.8 percent (23-for-55) from the field. Aris Wurtz had 13 points, almost half of his 25.1 points per game average entering the contest.