(ST NORBERT COMMUNICATIONS) DE PERE – St. Norbert College struggled early against Lake Forest College in the first round of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament but went on a 35-8 run in the final 12:26 to gain a huge 95-60 win over the Foresters after trailing by double-digits in the first half at Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center.
The Green Knights (9-1) struggled to find the basket in the early stages of the first half, as Lake Forest took a 12-0 lead in the opening four minutes. Garrett Grzesk finally broke that string of bad luck with two free throw makes. Grzesk and Jamison Nickolai made two three-pointers on a 9-0 run for St. Norbert that brought them within three points of the lead.
After nearly falling behind by double digits once again, the Green Knights would once again rally and take their first lead of the day at 1:35 left in the first half from a pair of Connor Pytleski free throws to lead by 40-39. However, a layup by Lake Forest near the buzzer tied the game at 41 all.
St. Norbert was on fire coming out of the half, scoring their first four field goal attempts to gain its biggest lead of the day. Cole Uhlenbrauck had an impressive start to the half, scoring nine points and going 2-for-2 from three. Aidan Harrington (pictured) also found rhythm in the second half, scoring a majority of his 19 points in the half.
During St. Norbert’s 35-8 run to end the game, the Green Knights scored 24 straight points before a Lake Forest response. The Foresters could only manage 13 total points in the half, with most of them coming from the free-throw line.
Shooting 66.7 percent (32-of-48) from the floor, the Green Knights had their best shooting night in a game since 2014. The Green Knights shot lights out from three, making 11-of-17 (64.7 percent). That mark is the sixth-best three-point shooting night in program history, and the highest since 2014.
Grzesk and Harrington both led with 19 points each, with Grzesk having a perfect night from the floor and free-throw line. Nickolai finished with 11 points and eight rebounds while Uhlenbrauck had 12 points. In total, 12 Green Knights got on the scoresheet.
Lake Forest shot 41.8 from the floor (23-of-55). Alex Forowycz led the Foresters with 15 points.
St. Norbert will face No. 5 UW-Platteville at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the championship game of the tournament.
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