St. Norbert Outlasts Illinois College

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, February 8, 2020 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College found it trailing inside nine minutes to play but made plenty of shots down the stretch to hold off Illinois College 87-74 in a Midwest Conference game at Sherman Gym.

The Green Knights (18-3, 13-1 MWC) trailed 64-62 with 8:37 left after Illinois College's Jake Mazrimas canned a 3-pointer. But St. Norbert would go on an 11-0 run over the next 3:41 to take a 73-64 lead on a Nolan Beirne jumper. The Blueboys would cut the deficit down to four at 73:69 with 3:29 left, but Joe Ciriacks and Connor Curtis made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for a 79-69 lead with 2:18 left and effectively decide the outcome.

St. Norbert jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game thanks to seven points off the hand of Jacob Bolwerk. The Green Knights would suffer through a cold stretch, falling behind 19-16 midway through the half and 26-22 on a Mazrimas 3-pointer with 6:43 left. St. Norbert then went on a 12-0 run to get some breathing room, highlighted by a conventional three-point play by Josh Nicklaus and a 3-pointer from Wade Geenen for a 36-26 lead with 3:39 left. St. Norbert eventually settled on a 43-33 halftime lead.

The Green Knights took a 48-35 lead early in the second half on a Bolwerk layup, but the Blueboys slowly crept back in the game and eventually tied the game 59-59 with 11:25 left.

St. Norbert shot 43.7 percent (31-for-71) from the floor and offset that with only seven turnovers, allowing the Green Knights to take 21 more field-goal attempts than Illinois College. Curtis led the Green Knights with 20 points, while Geenen added 19 points, Jared Murphy 17 points and Bolwerk 11 points.

Illinois College shot 54 percent (27-for-50) from the floor but had 20 turnovers. Trae Robinson finished with 17 points, while Mazrimas and Riley Mehrens added 15 points apiece.