DE PERE, Wis. — The ninth-ranked St. Norbert College men’s basketball team used a big scoring run in the second half Wednesday to pull away for an 81-63 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University at Schuldes Sports Center.
The Green Knights (18-1, 14-0 MWC) led 55-47 with 11:34 left in the contest after Mitch Willer’s layup for the Vikings. St. Norbert then went on a 20-4 run over the next eight minutes to seal the victory.
Austin Elliott scored 20 points and handed out six assists and Steven Hofacker had 11 points and eight rebounds to pace the Green Knights.
Ryan DePouw poured in a season-high 20 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Vikings (7-12, 5-9). Mitch Willer came off the bench to add 12 points, and Jamie Nikitas had 12 points and four assists for Lawrence.
St. Norbert, which never trailed in the game, led by as many as nine points late in the first half, but back-to-back layups from Willer and Troy Miller trimmed the Green Knights’ lead to 35-30 at the half.
The Green Knights stretched the lead to 43-33 early in the second half, but a mini-run that featured a Jeremy Stephani 3-pointer and five points from DePouw trimmed the margin to 47-41. That was as close as the Vikings would get before St. Norbert put together its decisive scoring run.
St. Norbert enjoyed a huge advantage at the foul line where the Green Knights shot 12-for-19. Lawrence did not attempt a free throw as the Green Knights were whistled for only nine fouls.