(ST.NORBERT COMMUNICATIONS) – DE PERE – In an early-season matchup between expected Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference contenders, St. Norbert College held off Milwaukee School of Engineering to prevail 72-59 at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights (5-2, 3-0 NACC) are just one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the 13-team loop, joining Concordia University Chicago, after knocking off the senior-laden Raiders (4-4, 2-1). MSOE entered the contest averaging 84.1 points per game but was held 25 points below its season average.
MSOE scored on its first four offensive possessions but the Green Knights connected on a pair of 3-pointers by Connor Pytleski and Ryan Cox in the early going to hang with the early flurry. Pytleski canned another trey with 15:16 remaining in the first half for an 11-9 lead and St. Norbert, despite several pushes from the visitor, never trailed the rest of the way.
St. Norbert held a single-digit lead throughout the first half, with MSOE trailing 27-24 with 6:04 left before halftime. Will Stuckey splashed a 3-pointer and Cole Uhlenbrauck followed with one of his own for a 33-24 edge with 4:28 to go. The Raiders answered with a pair of baskets to make it 33-28, but the Green Knights held them scoreless for the last 3:23 to close the half on a 5-0 run to lead 38-28 at halftime.
The Green Knights opened up their largest lead of the game to that point with a 47-36 advantage with 13:26 to go. The Raiders cut the deficit back into single digits and cut it to 55-51 before Cam Lathos (pictured) canned a 3-pointer late in the possession to bump things back it back to a seven-point lead. Mason Freiburger finished a putback on the next possession and a pair of Stuckey free throws at 5:41 put the Green Knights ahead 62-51. The Raiders would connect on a 3-pointer to cut it to 62-54 with 5:25 to go, but neither team scored for the next 2:35 until Lathos took a nifty feed from Freiburger and Pytleski had a steal and runout layup at 2:29 to lead 66-54 and effectively decide the outcome.
St. Norbert shot 48.1 percent (26-for-54) from the floor and was 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. Pytleski posted a career-high 20 points, while Stuckey added 17 points and seven rebounds. Lathos finished with a career-high 14 points. The Green Knights outrebounded the Raiders 37-27, with Cox pulling down a game-high eight.
MSOE shot 40.8 percent (20-for-49) from the floor. Mason Dopirak finished with 25 points, with 20 in the second half. Chase Cummings added 10 points.
WOMEN
PLYMOUTH – St. Norbert College picked up its second Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win of the season with a 79-51 victory over Lakeland University at Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Green Knights (3-3, 2-0 NACC) controlled most of the game, after back-and-forth scoring to open the first quarter. Lakeland tied the game at 10 midway through the period, but St. Norbert responded with a 10-2 run to close out the first, sparked by a steal and fastbreak layup from Marnie Kahl. The first few minutes of the second quarter went scoreless before the Green Knights began to find rhythm in the paint led by Taylor Thiry, going into halftime with a 36-26 lead.
St. Norbert continued to chip away in the third period, answering each Lakeland push to maintain the lead. After the Muskies cut the deficit to seven points, Olivia Conway knocked down a 3-pointer before Oakley Witteck and Kahl added free throws to help the Green Knights end the third quarter with a 15-point lead. St. Norbert pushed the tempo early in the fourth, quickly extending the lead to 22. Rose Hahn (pictured) added timely scoring down the stretch, while the Green Knights’ defense held the Muskies to just eight points in the period to secure the 79-51 win.
St. Norbert scored 56 points in the paint, shooting 49.2 percent from the floor. Thiry scored a game-high 27 points, while Hahn finished with 15 and Conway had 13.
Lakeland shot 27.5 percent from the floor, led by Alexis Johnson with 11 points.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
DE PERE – St. Norbert College fell 4-1 to top-ranked UW-River Falls in the final game before the winter break in a non-conference game at Hunt Arena.
The Green Knights (10-3) fought off the Falcons in the first period, but a three-goal swing by UW-River Falls in the second period turned the game on its head. The Falcons scored their first on a power play at 3:09 and scored a second just over a minute later at 4:11. The third River Falls goal was scored at 12:28.
The Falcons added one more goal in the third at 4:54.
The Green Knights had their best opportunities in the first period on a power play, with four shots being saved by Jordan O’Kane. Annalee Holzer led the Green Knights with five shots, while Sydney Zurawik and Tristan Wicklund had four.
St. Norbert was outshot 38-23. Tanith Plachetka made 34 saves for the Green Knights, while O’Kane had 23 for River Falls.
St. Norbert went 0-of-5 on the power play. The Falcons went 1-of-2.
