Men's Basketball Falls To St. Norbert In NACC Final - D3hoops
Seventeenth-ranked Wisconsin Lutheran College was held to a season-low 29.3 percent shooting in a 70-52 loss to St. Norbert on Sunday in the 2025 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament Final at Time of Grace Center.
The Warriors (25-3) will find out if their postseason continues for a second straight year when they hope for their first-ever at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Selections will be announced on Monday at 11 a.m. on NCAA.com.
A pair of breakaway dunks and a three-pointer from senior AJ Vos (Lombard, Ill.) gave the Warriors an early 7-2 advantage with 17:25 remaining in the first half. The Green Knights used an 11-0 run to pull ahead 18-9 with 10:08 remaining. Back-to-back threes from freshman Sam Hans (Hartland, Wis.) sparked an 8-0 WLC run to pull within one, 18-17, with 9:08 remaining in the half. SNC responded with 7-0 run to put them in front by eight, 25-17, with 6:40 to play. Wisconsin Lutheran punched right back, using a 9-0 run to take a 26-25 lead with 4:30 left in the opening half. A 10-4 WLC run over the final four minutes, eight of which came from graduate Ryan Broeckel (Chilton, Wis.), put the Warriors up 36-31 at halftime. Graduate Jacob Hefle (Germantown, Wis.), who had five points in the first half, became the 26th member of WLC's 1,000-point club after knocking down a three-pointer at the 5:36 mark.
Wisconsin Lutheran held a six-point lead less than two minutes into the second half, but a 14-2 run from St. Norbert put them in front 50-43 with 10:14 remaining. The Green Knights maintained a seven-point lead at 54-47 before a 6-0 spurt gave them their largest lead of the game, 60-47, with 4:29 left on the clock. Hefle knocked down a pair of free throws to pull the Warriors within 11, but that was all the closer they would get, as SNC closed the game on a 10-3 scoring run to win 70-52.
Broeckel, who along with graduate Grayson Goetz (Aurora, Ill.) were named to the NACC All-Tournament Team, finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. Broeckel tied the program career blocks record with 169. Vos added nine points and four steals, while Hefle chipped in seven points. Graduate Jacob Stoltz (Kewaskum, Wis.) tallied five points, seven rebounds, and a game-high five assists. WLC was held to 29.3 percent (17-for-58) from the floor, including 15.6 percent (5-for-32) from three-point range..
NACC Tournament MVP Jamison Nickolai recorded a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double for St. Norbert (22-6), which shot 50.9 percent (27-for-53) from the floor.