(SNC Athletic Communications) – 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 in Jacksonville, Ill..
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.
WOMEN
Illinois College 57, St. Norbert 53
At Jacksonville, Ill., the Green Knights had a seven-point lead with under four minutes to play but couldn’t hold on in a tough loss to Illinois College in a Midwest Conference game at Sherman Gym.
After battling back to tie the game at 44-44 after three quarters, the Green Knights opened the final period on an 8-1 run to take a 52-45 lead. Kaycee Gierczak had a conventional three-point play, and Olivia DeCleene followed with a 3-pointer for a 50-44 lead with 8:33 left.
Neither team would score again until Illinois College’s Lilly Pepper split a pair of free throws at the 4:34 mark. Gierczak then canned a jumper with 3:41 to go for a 52-45 advantage.
Illinois College would score the next five points until Macie Zurfluh split a pair of free throws with 2:13 left. Carly Cameron scored for Illinois College with 2:01 left to cut the Lady Blues’ deficit to 53-52.
St. Norbert then had three empty possessions and Illinois College took the lead for good on a Megan Price basket with 1:04 left.
The Green Knights trailed 56-53 inside 20 seconds but a potential game-tying 3-pointer was offline.The Lady Blues led 16-10 after the first quarter and increased their lead to 32-22 at halftime.
The Green Knights trailed 36-28 with 6:58 left in the third quarter until going on a 13-0 run. A Zurfluh 3-pointer brought St. Norbert to within 36-34, and after an Illinois College basket Jessica Boerner scored on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 38-38 with 3:04 left in the period.
Sarah Chouinard then canned a 3-pointer to give St. Norbert a brief 41-38 lead. Chouinard then drained another triple late in the quarter to tie the game 44-44.
St. Norbert shot 35 percent (21-for-60) from the floor, including 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) in the fourth quarter. Zurfluh finished with 12 points for the Green Knights, while Boerner added 11 points.
Illinois College shot 39.1 percent (18-for-46) from the floor. Pepper finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Lady Blues, while Grace Yaunches added 10 points.
