Geenen's Spurt Pushes St. Norbert Past UW-Eau Claire

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, December 14, 2019 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College got 16 consecutive points from junior guard Wade Geenen down the stretch to help the Green Knights hold off UW-Eau Claire 70-58 in a non-conference game at Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center.

St. Norbert (4-2) held a 52-47 lead after Eau Claire's Cam Kuepers drained a 3-pointer with 6:55 remaining. From there Geenen took over, fueling a 16-8 St. Norbert run over the next 5:28 by scoring all 16 of the Green Knights' points. The Blugolds dropped to 8-2 with the loss.

Geenen responded to Kuepers' triple with a trey of his own for a 55-47 lead with 6:20 left. St. Norbert then got a pair of defensive stops before Geenen canned another triple at the 5:14 mark for a 58-47 edge. The Green Knights again stopped Eau Claire twice, leading to another Geenen hoop with 3:46 to go and a 12-point lead. Eau Claire's Spencer Page sandwiched two 3-pointers around another Geenen 3, and Geenen's basket with 2:20 left put St. Norbert ahead 65-53. Eau Claire's Cole Rabedeaux scored with 2 minutes to go, but Geenen's 3-pointer late in the possession with 1:27 left put St. Norbert ahead 68-55 to seal the outcome.

St. Norbert got off to a strong start, jumping out to an 11-0 lead just 4:04 into the game, stopping Eau Claire on its first seven possessions. Joe Ciriacks opened the scoring with a layup, followed by a Geenen 3-pointer at 19:07 - his only points of the first half. Jacob Bolwerk made a pair of free throws at 17:10, followed by baskets by Curtis and Bolweker for an 11-0 edge at 15:56. The Blugolds would get to within six twice and again at seven at 23-16 with 7:24 left in the half after a Kuepers' 3-pointer, but St. Norbert would go on a 9-2 run to take a 32-18 lead on a Jared Murphy jumper. The Green Knights carried a 32-22 lead into halftime.

Eau Claire would get to within 34-27 early in the first half, but St. Norbert scored eight consecutive points on 3-pointers by Murphy and Ciriacks around a Beirne basket. St. Norbert would hold a double- digit lead until Eau Claire got to within 48-39 with 9:28 remaining.

St. Norbert shot 55.1 percent (27-for-49) from the floor, including 14 of 22 (63.6 percent) in the second half. Geenen led the Green Knights with 21 points, while Murphy added 17 points and Bolwerk 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Eau Claire shot 45.1 percent (23-for-51) from the floor. Page led the Blugolds with 14 points, while Rabedeaux and Kuepers had 12 points apiece.