Men’s Basketball: Olivet tripped up by St. Norbert, 72-58

DE PERE, Wis. – The University of Olivet men's basketball team fell to the host Green Knights, 72-58, in the first round of the St. Norbert College Nicolet National Bank Tournament tonight inside the Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.

• Final Score: St. Norbert 72, Olivet 58
• Location: Mulva Family Fitness Center; De Pere, Wisconsin
• Records: Olivet 2-8 overall, St. Norbert 9-2 overall

• Early in the first half, the Green Knights led by five points, 11-6. The Comets drained three straight three-pointers – two by senior Ryan Bart and one by freshman Conner Schipper – to go up by four points, 15-11, with 12:07 left before halftime. Olivet maintained the lead until St. Norbert used a three-point play to go ahead 21-19 at the 7:09 mark. The Green Knights closed the half on a 16-7 run to hold a 37-26 lead at the intermission. The second half was like the first half. St. Norbert led by as many as 24 points, 53-29, with 13:36 left in the game.
• For the game, Olivet made more baskets 23 to 18, including a 12-4 edge from behind the arc. The difference in the game was the Green Knights made 32-of-40 free throws and the Comets missed their only attempt at the charity stripe. Olivet also committed nine more turnovers which led to 17 points for the Green Knights.

• Junior Nolan Finkbeiner scored a team-high 11 points.
• Schipper posted a double-double, 10 points and game-high 11 rebounds.
• Olivet had 16 assists on its 23 baskets. Bart, freshman Aden Hathaway and senior Noah Wiswary each tallied three assists.

• I've never seen a free throw discrepancy quite like tonight," said Olivet head coach Sam Hargraves. "It was very hard to overcome. We definitely need to improve on some things from tonight. The best teams close the first half, and really compete the first 3-4 minutes of the second half. Those minutes today St. Norbert dominated us. But it's a process to get to that point to be able to do those things well. We'll have another tough challenge tomoorow to see if we can improve in those areas."

• The Comets play University of Wisconsin-Superior in the consolation game tomorrow night. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET.