The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championship with a 77-67 win over St. Norbert College (Wis.) Saturday night in the second round at The La Crosse Center.

The Eagles, ranked fifth on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, improve to 24-5 on the season. The 24 wins extend UWL's single-season school record for victories.

St. Norbert (Wis.) finishes its season at 23-7.

UWL advanced to the second round after a 120-93 win over Greenville University (Ill.) on Friday while St. Norbert (Wis.) earned a 92-89 victory over Carthage College (Wis.) in the first round.

UWL will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament Sweet 16 in school history with Saturday's win. The Eagles are now 3-3 all-time in the national tournament in their fourth career trip to the postseason. UWL earned its first win in the national championships with a 90-86 victory over Heidelberg University (Ohio) in 2022 first round.

UWL will face Illinois Wesleyan University in the NCAA Division III Sectional Semifinal. Date, time and location have yet to be announced.

In the first meeting between the teams since 2011-12, St. Norbert (Wis.) took a 2-0 lead on Garrett Grzesk's jumper Saturday, but UWL went on a 13-1 run to take a 13-3 lead. Dustin Derousseau went three-of-three from three-point range in the run as St. Norbert (Wis.) had four turnovers and three missed field goal attempts.

The Green Knights responded with a 12-0 run of their own to take a 15-13 lead with 12:40 left in the first half after Jamison Nickolai's three-point field goal. Derousseau hit his fourth straight three-pointer to give the Eagles a 16-15 lead, but the Green Knights' Connor Pytleski converted a three-point field goal to make it 18-16 with 10:41 remaining.

The game was later tied, 21-21, when UWL went on a 12-2 run to take a 33-23 lead with 3:41 left on a Derousseau layup. Derousseau's fifth three-pointer of the first half extended the lead to 38-27 with :28 remaining before St. Norbert (Wis.) cut the halftime lead to 38-29 on a pair of free throws from Brandt Wilson with :02 left.

Derousseau finished the first half with 21 points, going five-of-six from three-point range.

Wilson's two free throws cut the lead to 41-31 early in the second half when UWL went on a 10-1 run to take a 51-32 lead with 14:41 remaining on Will Fuhrmann's three-point field goal. St. Norbert (Wis.) used a 16-4 run to cut the deficit 55-48 with 8:56 left on Wilson's layup.

Sam Grieger's three-pointer gave UWL a 58-48 lead and St. Norbert (Wis.) would get no closer than six points the rest of the game.

UWL shot 44.2% from the field, including 37.5% (nine-of-24) from three-point range, and 78.6% (22-of-28) at the free throw line.

Derousseau led the Eagles with 23 points, finishing five-of-seven from three-point range, while adding six rebounds and team-high three steals.

Grieger finished with 16 points and team-high six assists. Karter Thomas totaled 13 points off the bench while JJ Paider finished with 12 points while tying for the team lead with seven rebounds with Torin Hannah.

St. Norbert (Wis.) shot 37.7% from the field, including 31.0% (nine-of-29) from three-point range, and 70.6% (12-of-17) at the line.

Wilson led the Green Knights, recording a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Nickolai also registered a double-double, finishing with 10 points and team-high 13 rebounds. Grzesk totaled 15 points.