St. Norbert Takes Control In MWC With Win Over Ripon

From Staff Writer, January 31, 2017 | Men's Basketball
by Zach Herson, ,

GREEN BAY - St. Norbert College took on Ripon College in a showdown among the top two teams in the Midwest Conference, with the host Green Knights prevailing 79-62 at UW-Green Bay's Kress Events Center.

The Green Knights (15-3, 12-1 MWC), ranked No. 10 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, opened up a two-game lead on the Red Hawks (14-4, 10-3) with five games remaining. St. Norbert also won its 48th consecutive home game against a MWC opponent.

St. Norbert found itself down early at 9-6 thanks to a trio of Ripon three-point field goals. The Green Knights climbed out of their early hole with a pair of baskets to take a slim 10-9 lead. Ripon continued to bury threes, and another one coupled with a layup allowed them to take a 14-10 advantage.

The Green Knights fought back again, going on a 14-2 run to a 24-16 edge. A 6-0 run by Ripon tightened the gap to two points, before a Tim Marshall jumper gave the Knights a 26-22 lead. A D.J. DeValk 3-pointer added to the St. Norbert lead at 29-23, and a daring Ben Bobinski drive to the basket gave the Green Knights their biggest lead of the half. Ripon closed the gap heading into half thanks to another pair of 3s but St. Norbert still led 33-31.

The scoring started in a hurry in the second, with Ripon taking a 36-35 lead two minutes in. The Green Knights' defense held stout over the next few minutes as they gradually extended their lead to 47-36 thanks to a 12-0 run. A rare four-point play by Ripon's Ty Sabin put a stop to the run. DeValk responded with a deep three-point shot to make it a 50-40 Green Knight advantage.

Ripon went on an 8-2 run to cut the St. Norbert lead down to four, assisted by a few fouls in the process. But another DeValk three point shot and no-look pass from Terrance Garner to a Marshall layup were major parts of a 9-0 Green Knight run that ensued to give them a 63-50 with 6:30 remaining. DeValk continued his monster night from the three-point line to provide the Green Knights a 68-58 edge with less than 3 minutes left. St. Norbert continued to build on their lead, taking a 9-2 run to the one-minute mark to put Ripon away.

The Green Knights shot 49.2 percent (32-for-65) from the field and 78.6% from three (11-for-14). Marshall led all St. Norbert scorers with a career-high 19 points, while Bobinski had 18 points and DeValk added 16 of his own.

Ripon shot 38.8 percent (19-for-49) from the field and 72.2 percent (13-for-18) from the free-throw line. Sabin led his team with a 33-point performance. Brendan McCoy added 14 points while Isaac Masters tacked on eight.