WAUKESHA, Wis. -- St. Norbert held off a determined Carroll squad to claim a 68-62 Midwest Conference win at Van Male Fieldhouse.
The sixth-ranked Green Knights (19-1, 15-0 MWC) won for the 17th consecutive game, and clinched home-court advantage in the Midwest Conference tournament.
St. Norbert held a 61-53 lead with 6:03 left on Andrew Schwoerer's jumper, but the Pioneers (13-8, 10-6) mounted a furious rally. Brandon Ehrke converted a conventional three-point play with 4:50 left to cut the deficit to 61-56. St. Norbert's Austin Elliott hit a layup 22 seconds later, but Ehrke answered with two free throws with 4:15 left to make it 63-60.
Carroll got a stop and then rebounded its own miss, and Andrew Nottling's layup with 3:08 to go cut the deficit to 63-62. The Green Knights then had four shots at the basket on their next possession and missed them all. Carroll missed a chance to take the lead when Ehrke's 3-pointer was rebounded by Brandon Gries with 1:39 left. Following a timeout, Gries hit a tough shot from 13 feet out to put the Green Knights ahead 65-62 with 1:16 left. The Pioneers' Kyle Keranen missed a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left. Carroll opted not to foul, and Andrew Schwoerer put back a St. Norbert miss with 14 seconds left to seal the win.
