St. Norbert Tops Nationally Ranked UW-Oshkosh

From Sports Information Director, November 16, 2009 | Men's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College claimed its third consecutive win over a nationally ranked opponent with a hard-fought 60-52 win over UW-Oshkosh at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights (2-0) won for the second consecutive season over the Titans (0-1), who are ranked 24th in the D3hoops.com Top 25. St. Norbert won consecutive games against Oshkosh for the first time since the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons.

Oshkosh held its only lead of the game with 10 minutes 31 seconds remaining on a Taylor Pagitt jumper for a 38-36 advantage. St. Norbert then went on a 13-2 run over the next 7 1/2 minutes to lead 49-40 with 2:53 to go. James Pfitzinger's banked jumper tied the game at 38-38, and he made 1 of 2 free throws on St. Norbert's next possession. Dave Wipperfurth canned a jumper for a 41-38 lead, and Pfitzinger scored again on the next trip. Jake Dietz's steal and layup gave St. Norbert a 45-40 lead with 6:04 left.

The Titans would whittle the lead down to three points at 52-49 with 41 seconds left, but St. Norbert made all eight of its free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.

St. Norbert jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game and led by as many as 13 points in the first half before settling on a 30-19 halftime advantage.

Oshkosh guard D.J. Marsh, a first-team pre-season All-America selection by D3hoops.com, was held to 4 of 16 shooting from the floor with stellar defensive work by Wipperfurth and Paul Mallers. Marsh did go 9-for-9 from the free throw line to finish with 17 points, the only Titan in double figures. The Titans shot just 32.1 percent from the floor, making 17 of 53 field goals.

St. Norbert had a balanced scoring effort, getting 14 points each from Wipperfurth and Steve Papke, with Papke securing a game-high eight rebounds. John Taylor had 12 points, and Dietz added 11. St. Norbert shot 42.2 percent (19-for-45) from the floor, but was 0-for-11 on 3-pointers.

The Green Knights are now 32-11 in their last 43 games dating back to the 2007-08 season.