St. Norbert Wins 2014 MWC Men's Basketball Tournament - Mar 1, 2014
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 (6'6''-G) and Julian Marx (5'11''-PG) each had 12 points with both hitting four three's. St. Norbert was led by Brandon Gries (6'1''-G) 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 (6'4''-F) scored 21 points off the bench on 9-of-13 shooting while Austin Elliott (6'3''-G) 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.
Courtesy of MWC
MWC Tournament Final: St. Norbert - Grinnell 99-86
