John Carroll Runs Past Green Knights

From Sports Information Director, December 30, 2014 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College couldn't hold down John Carroll University's up-tempo offense as the Blue Streaks claimed an 80-70 win over the Green Knights in the championship game of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights (9-1), ranked No. 18 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, had a 29-game regular-season winning streak snapped. John Carroll (7-2) was making its first appearance in the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament.

St. Norbert jumped out to an 11-2 lead, scoring on five of its first six possessions. Steven Hofacker's hoop 4:10 into the game gave the Green Knights their nine-point lead. John Carroll promptly answered with a 12-2 run to take a 14-13 lead on a David Hendrickson basket.

The Green Knights led 18-16 on a Bryan Dalton basket at the 10:45 mark, but that would be the last time St. Norbert was out in front. A quick 8-0 spurt, which included 3-pointers from Hendrickson and Will Starks, gave John Carroll a 24-18 lead. The Blue Streaks eventually settled on a 43-34 halftime lead.

St. Norbert whittled the deficit down to 50-49 on a D.J. DeValk layup with 14:07 to go, but John Carroll answered with baskets from David Caputo and Jake Hollinger to start an 11-2 run that put the visitors up 61-51. The Green Knights came again to trail 61-57 with 8:42 to go, but John Carroll pulled away with an 8-2 run to lead 69-59 with 6:33 left.

St. Norbert, Division III's top shooting team at 55.3 percent entering the game, shot just 40 percent (16-for-40) in the second half and 45.6 percent (31-for-68) overall. DeValk finished with 18 points, while Schwoerer added 16 points and Hofacker 11.

John Carroll shot 47.6 percent (30-for-63) from the floor and canned 9 of 25 three-point field goal attempts. Caputo led the Blue Streaks with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Hollinger and Danny Wallack added 14 points apiece.

Caputo was named the Tournament MVP, and was joined by Hollinger and Wallack. Schwoerer and DeValk were St. Norbert's selections, as was UW-Stout's Brett Ahsenmacher.