Green Knights Wear Down Prairie Fire

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, January 18, 2020 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 28-point rout of Knox College in an 83-55 Midwest Conference win at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.

The Green Knights (13-2, 8-0 MWC), ranked No. 25 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, won for the 13th consecutive time. St. Norbert trailed 31-30 at halftime but shot a robust 64.3 percent (18-for-28) in the second half to outscore the visitors 53-24 in the final 20 minutes of action.

Despite a rough start shooting to open the game, the Green Knights jumped out to an 11-4 lead just over five minutes into the game on a Wade Geenen 3-pointer. St. Norbert stayed ahead most of the rest of the first half until Knox got a pair of three-point leads late. Wade Geenen's elbow jumper with six seconds left in the half brought the Green Knights to within one at intermission.

St. Norbert retook the lead for good early in the second half when Jacob Bolwerk converted a conventional three-point play just 49 seconds in. That play started a 19-3 St. Norbert run over the next 4:48, with the Green Knights surging ahead 51-36 on a Connor Curtis basket with 14:23 left. Joe Ciriacks scored nine consecutive points during the run, canning three 3-pointers to help St. Norbert's lead go from two to 11 points.

The Green Knights led 61-49 with 8:46 left, but then went on a 22-4 run over the next 6:33 to salt the game away.

St. Norbert shot 50.9 percent (29-for-57) from the floor and was a toasty 13-for-27 (48.1 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. Ciriacks poured in 23 points, while Geenen matched a career-high total with 22 points. Jared Murphy added 10 points.

Knox shot 41.2 percent (21-for-51) from the floor. Jordan Rayner led the Prairie Fire with 15 points, while Matthew Leary added 11 points.