BY SNC ATHLETICS
The St. Norbert men’s and women’s basketball teams both played in Division III NCAA Tournament first-round games on Friday. The men pulled off an 81-77 victory over nationally-ranked Carleton, while the women fell to defending national champion Hope, 82-61.
SNC men 81, Carleton 77
WHEATON, Ill. – St. Norbert College had a solid shooting day at a good time as the Green Knights posted an 81-77 win over Carleton College in a first-round NCAA Division III Tournament game at Wheaton College’s King Arena.
The Green Knights (20-7) won for the 13th straight time behind 30 of 59 shooting (50.9 percent) from the floor and 9-for-21 marksmanship (42.9 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. St. Norbert’s win advances it to a second-round matchup with host Wheaton at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Carleton, which entered the game ranked No. 21 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, finishes its season 24-4.
St. Norbert was in control from almost start to finish holding a lead for 37 minutes 20 seconds. The Green Knights trailed 8-4 in the early going before going on a 25-5 run. St. Norbert trailed 8-4 before a layup from Evan Glaser and a trey from Garrett Grzesk put St. Norbert up 9-8. Jamison Nickolai and Michael Payant then hit 3s for a 17-10 lead at the 13:31 mark. Carleton got to within 17-13 before a Gebler 3, a Grzesk jumper and a Nickolai 3 put the Green Knights up 25-13 at the 11:36 mark. An Aidan Harrington hoop and a Glaser basket in the paint gave St. Norbert a 29-13 lead with 8:42 to go before halftime.
The Green Knights led 38-24 after a Harrington trey with 3:45 left in the half before Carleton made a late charge. The Knights got to within five but a Grzesk 3-pointer helped St. Norbert hold a 41-35 lead at halftime.
St. Norbert held at least a five-point lead throughout the second half until the game’s waning moments. The Green Knights built up a lead of 59-45 on a Nickolai putback with 10:48 to go before a 10-1 run by Carleton got the 21st-ranked Knights to within 60-55 with 7:23 left. Nickolai then splashed a 3-pointer – St. Norbert’s only triple of the second half – to push the lead back to eight points. A Glaser basket with 5:31 let put St. Norbert ahead 65-55.
Glaser converted a conventional three-point play with 1:56 left for a 76-65 lead. Carleton was able to hang around thanks to St. Norbert going 5-for-14 at the fre-throw line in the final 1:28, but the Green Knights got two key charity tosses from Gebler with 25 seconds left to make it a three-possession game and an 81-74 lead.
St. Norbert, which committed just five turnovers, had five players score in double figures. Gebler scored 20 points, his third consecutive game reaching the 20-point plateau. Glaser had 17 points, while Grzesk and Nickolai had 15 points apiece. Harrington finished with 10 points.
Carleton shot 45 percent (27-for-60) from the floor and was 14-for-35 (40 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. The Knights’ All-America candidate, Jeremy Beckler, finished with 35 points. Luke Harris added 18 points for Carleton, which committed just six turnovers.
Hope 82, SNC women 61
HOLLAND, Mich. – St. Norbert College put up a solid effort but defending national champion Hope College ultimately pulled away for an 82-61 win in a first-round NCAA Division III Tournament game at DeVos Fieldhouse.
The Green Knights, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017, saw their season come to a close at 24-4. St. Norbert, which saw a 16-game winning streak snapped, matched a school record for wins in a season.
Hope (26-2) opened up a quick 4-0 lead before the Green Knights responded with a 12-3 run. Emma Morrisey got the run started with a 3-pointer, and Chloe Gruszynski and Kaycee Gierczak followed with baskets inside to tie the game at 7-7. Gierczak then hit a jumper and Morrisey splashed another trey to put St. Norbert ahead 12-7 with 5:26 left in the first quarter. Hope answered to take a 17-12 lead before Morrisey’s layup brought the score to 17-14 at the quarter break.
Morrisey gave St. Norbert 25-23 lead with a 3-pointer with 6:06 left in the second quarter. The Flying Dutch responded with a 3 of their own for a 26-25 lead, and St. Norbert standout guard Olivia DeCleene then picked up two quick fouls to give her three with 4:49 to go and the Green Knights trailing 28-25. Hope then went on a 14-3 run to close out the period to lead 42-28 at halftime.
St. Norbert halved its deficit by getting back to within seven at 49-42 after a Casey Jepson 3-pointer with 6:22 left in the third quarter. Hope scored five quick points before a DeCleene trey brought it back to 54-45 with 5:18 left. But the Flying Dutch then put the game away with a big 16-3 run the rest of the quarter for a 70-48 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Green Knights shot 39.3 percent (22-for-56) from the floor. Morrisey, Jepson and Gierczak all finished with 13 points apiece, while DeCleene finished with six points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
Hope shot 54.2 percent (32-for-59) from the floor. Savannah Feenstra had a game-high 19 points, while Ella McKinney added 15 points.