[Box Score]

[Tournament Page]

DE PERE, Wis. – St. Norbert weather a three-point barrage from Grinnell and won the 2014 Midwest Conference (MWC) Men’s Basketball Tournament with a 99-86 win. With the victory the Green Knights earned the MWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The first half was a back-and-forth contest with each team exchanging blows that resulted in a three point advantage for St. Norbert after 20 minutes. With the game tied at 28 at the 7:40 mark the Green Knights went on an 8-0 run to give themselves some breathing room. After St. Norbert built an 11 point lead with just over 3:00 left the Pioneers answered with a 14-6 run to end the half and go in the locker room down 53-51.

The Green Knights shot 67% from the field in the first half on 24-of-36 shooting with only two three-point attempts. Grinnell was the polar opposite in the half as 31 of its 38 shots were from behind the arc. The Pioneers hit 15 of those three-point attempts to stay within striking distance.

Grinnell opened up the second half with a 5-0 run and took a two point lead to continue from the success at the end of the first half. With Grinnell up by two at the 16:37 mark the Green Knights struck back and went on a 10-2 run. The teams continued to battle back-and-forth and with the game tied at 86 at the 3:38 mark St. Norbert went on a 13-0 run to end the game and seal a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

St. Norbert held Grinnell to only 31% shooting in the second half (12-of-39) and the Pioneers only hit 8-of-32 three-point chances. St. Norbert nearly shot as well in the second half as they did in the first hitting 12-of-22 shots (59%) and going 17-of-23 from the foul line.

Grinnell was led by Luke Yeager who had a team-high 13 points and six rebounds. Patrick Maher and Julian Marx each had 12 points with both hitting four three’s.

St. Norbert was led by Brandon Gries who scored 23 points to go along with eight assists and three rebounds. Gries went 7-of-10 from the field and 9-of-11 from the foul line. Andrew Schwoerer scored 21 points off the bench on 9-of-13 shooting while Austin Elliot scored 21 points and had seven rebounds. St. Norbert ended the game shooting 64% and out rebounded Grinnell 44-31.

The win was the 22nd in a row for St. Norbert who was ranked #5 in the latest D3hoops.com poll. The Green Knights will find out their opponent in the NCAA Tournament on Monday when the pairings are announced.

St. Norbert senior guard Brandon Greis talks about the win:





St. Norbert Head Coach Gary Grzesk talks about winning the tournament: