By: No. 23 St. Norbert used a late run to clip Illinois College, 76-67, and win its 50th consecutive Midwest Conference game.
Box Score DE PERE, Wis. – The path that St. Norbert took to its 50th straight Midwest Conference victory was anything but easy, but the Green Knights played lights-out in the last four minutes to down the Illinois College men's basketball team by a score of 76-67. IC falls to 3-5 (1-4 MWC) with the loss, while the Green Knights extend their record to 8-1 (6-0 MWC).
The opening minutes did little to show how close the game would be by the end. A three-pointer by St. Norbert's Seth Taylor gave the Green Knights a 23-10 lead halfway through the first half, the largest lead of the game for the home team. A
Tim Schappaugh jumper was cancelled out by a layup on the other end by Ben Bobinski to make it 25-12 before
Cody Hildebrand started his run. The sophomore accounted for eight straight points over a four-minute span to close the Blueboys to within five at 25-20 with 4:45 remaining until the break.
St. Norbert's Terrence Garner was able to momentarily add to the lead inside, but the Blueboys came back with seven straight to make it a 15-2 run and tie the game at 27-27 on a
Dom Aiello layup in the final minute of the first half. Garner made a layup before the first half ended however, giving the Green Knights a 29-27 halftime lead.
A hot start to the second half increased St. Norbert's lead to nine, 38-29, before the Blueboys found their offensive rhythm again. Hildebrand started an 11-0 run with a three-point play, followed by a
David Bauer lay-in and a
Payton Dugan jumper. After Hildebrand made one of two at the charity stripe, Dugan put Illinois College on top with a three-pointer at the 14:27 mark to make it 40-38.
Dugan took over the scoring load at that point for Illinois College. St. Norbert tied the game on a D.J. DeValk layup, but Dugan splashed a pair of free throws on the other end to put IC back in front. After a Mitch Winter three-pointer, Dugan replied back with one of his own for a 45-43 lead, followed by a Bauer triple to give the Blueboys a 48-43 advantage.
The lead was still five for Illinois College after a pair of
Sean McDonald free throws with 8:35 to play, but an 11-4 burst from the Green Knights ended with a DeValk jumper to give St. Norbert a 56-54 edge with five minutes left. Bauer then knotted the score one final time at 60-60 with just under four minutes remaining.
From that point on, the game shifted heavily towards St. Norbert. Garner had jumpers to bookend an 8-0 run from the Green Knights before a
Max Stutsman basket with 1:42 to play finally ended the stretch. With the shot clock running down on the other end of the floor, the officials conferred and called a foul on Stutsman with one second left on the shot clock rather than a shot clock violation on St. Norbert, resulting in three made free throws by DeValk to make it 71-62 with just over a minute left. Five free throws by the Green Knights in the last 70 seconds ensured that they would hold on for the win.
Hildebrand ended with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field for the Blueboys. Bauer added 11 points and a team-high five assists and Dugan had 10 points. DeValk led St. Norbert with 22 points, knocking down all nine of his free throw attempts. Garner ended with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Illinois College will return to action on Dec. 29 at the Bluffton University Holiday Tournament in Ohio. The Blueboys will start the tournament with a semifinal matchup against Hiram College at 2 p.m. On Dec. 30, IC will meet either Bluffton or Washington & Jefferson College.
