Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team dropped to 1-1 overall following a 63-61 loss to St. Norbert College.

Elmhurst led for over 36 minutes of the game, but St. Norbert (3-0) rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit to score the come-from-behind victory. 

The Bluejays built a 12-points (27-15) lead with 8:13 to play in the first half but the Green Knights closed the half on an 11-4 run to pull to within five points (31-26) at the break.

Elmhurst pushed its advantage back to 10 points early in the second half but St. Norbert slowly began chipping away at the Bluejays' lead. The Green Knights pulled to within a points with 4:46 to play and took their first lead of the game on a Dave Wipperfurth lay-up with 4:16 remaining.

The Bluejays quickly reclaimed the lead on a 3-pointer by Dustin Bainter, but the three straight points by the Green Knights gave St. Norbert a two-point advantage with just over two minutes left on the clock.

Zack Boyd knocked down a jumper to knot the score at 61-all with one minute left to play. After a St. Norbert turnover, the Bluejays missed two chances of the offensive end. Elmhurst was whistled for a foul on the rebound and Steve Papke hit one free throw to give St. Norbert a 62-61 lead with 15 seconds. 

Joe Acosta drove to the basket and appeared to have his shot taken off the backboard. On the ensuing rebound the Bluejays were whistled for a foul. Papke hit his first free throw to put St. Norbert up 63-61. Papke missed his second free throw attempt with Elmhurst grabbing the rebound with three ticks left on the clock. After an Elmhurst timeout, the Bluejays inbounded the ball to Bainter who dribbled across half-court and launched a shot the bounced off the front of the rim and hit the backboard before bounding out.

Elmhurst finished the game shooting 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the floor, including 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from beyond the arc. 

After shooting just 28.6 percent (6-of-21) in the first half, St. Norbert shot a blistering 63.2 percent (12-of-19) in the second half. The Green Knights finished the game shooting 45.0 percent (18-of-40) from the field, including 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from downtown. St. Norbert hit 21-of-27 attempts from the foul line (77.8 percent). 

St. Norbert won the rebounding war 36-24. 

Boyd led Elmhurst with 15 points in the loss. Chris Childs chipped in with 13 while Bainter finished with 11. Matt Bernier came off the bench to score 10.

Wipperfurth led St. Norbert with 21 points while John Taylor netted 14.