Chicago, Ill. - In a rematch with a St. Norbert College team the Scarlet Hawks had previously beaten earlier in the conference season, the Illinois Tech men's basketball team had the Green Knights down again 38-35 with just under 15 minutes to play in the second half Saturday afternoon at the Keating Center. But unlike their first matchup at St. Norbert on November 29th, this time the first-place Green Knights came roaring back, holding the Scarlet Hawks scoreless for nearly a 12-minute stretch en route to a 67-47 Green Knights' victory. The Scarlet Hawks dropped to 3-15 overall and 2-9 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play. The Green Knights improved to 15-3 and 10-1 in conference play.
The 23-0 run the Green Knights went on from the 14:32 mark in the second half until the 3:10 mark erased a three-point Scarlet Hawks lead, and gave St. Norbert their largest lead of the game at 20 points, putting the game out of reach for the Hawks.
First Half (Illinois Tech 30 - St. Norbert 29)
A Desmond Price three-pointer at the 16:08 mark of the first half capped off a 6-0 run for the Scarlet Hawks, and gave them their largest lead of the game at 5 points, 12-7. The Hawks would stave off the Green Knights over the next eight minutes, again jumping out to a five-point lead when Garrison Carter converted on a three-pointer to put the Hawks up 22-17 at the 7:56 mark. The Green Knights made a push over the next several minutes, and took a 29-26 lead with 1:08 to play on a Connor Pytleski three-pointer. The Scarlet Hawks responded, however, closing out the first half and retaking the lead with a pair of two-pointers from Tomas Teklegergis, including a put-back at the first-half buzzer. Carter led the Scarlet Hawks with 8 points in the opening half.
Second Half (St. Norbert 38 - Illinois Tech 17)
A layup and an "and-one" free throw conversion by Caden Gigstad at the 14:52 mark gave the Scarlet Hawks a 38-35 lead, completing an 8-6 run by Illinois Tech to open the second half. Unfortunately, those would be the last points the Hawks would score over the next eleven-plus minutes, as the Green Knights took over the game with the aforementioned 23-0 run to effectively salt the game away, leading 58-38. The teams would trade baskets over the final three minutes to close out the scoring with St. Norbert maintaining a 20-point margin of victory. Teklegergis paced the Hawks with 5 points in the second half.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Green Knights Watch
- Jamison Nickolai shook off a slow start to finish with 17 points and 8 rebounds to lead all players.
- Carter Gebler added 13 points and led with 6 assists.
- Connor Pytleski had 13 points, including 4 of 4 from three-point range.
Inside The Box Score
- St. Norbert held a 22-4 advantage in second-chance points
- Illinois Tech was whistled for 24 fouls compared to only 9 for the Green Knights. The 24 fouls led to 16 made free throws for St. Norbert.
- Neither team shot over 40% from the field. St. Norbert finished at 39%, with the Hawks finishing at 34%.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks, looking to end an 11-game-game losing streak, will hit the road for the next three conference games, starting with a matchup at Aurora on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.
