DE PERE, Wis. –  Faced with the reality of their season coming to a close, the Elmhurst men's basketball dug deep and simply refused to give up. Three times the Bluejays trailed in the closing seconds only to score clutch baskets before finally overcoming fifth-ranked St. Norbert College 110-98 in a triple-overtime thriller in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
Elmhurst (20-7) needed clutch buckets from Will Nixon, Kyle Wuest, and Erik Crittenden to extend the game and the Bluejays' stay in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Nixon delivered the Bluejays' first clutch bucket at the end of regulation. Trailing by two with just seconds left on the clock, Eric Leonard had the ball knocked away in the lane but Nixon scooped up the loose ball and scored to send the game in overtime.
 
St. Norbert (25-2) led by three with just 6.6 seconds left in the first overtime, but Wuest ran the length of the floor and buried a three-pointer with a defender in his face to force a second overtime.

Crittenden came up with the clutch bucket in the second overtime, hitting an off-balanced jumper in the paint with 4.2 seconds remaining. The Bluejays dodged a bullet at the end of the second overtime as St. Norbert's D.J. DeValk drove the length of the floor, but his potential game-winning layup came just after the buzzer.
 
Even though both squads were tired at the start of the third overtime, the Bluejays took control. Wuest hit a three-point play just nine seconds in to the period and the Bluejays' never looked back. Leonard splashed home a three and Elmhurst quickly built a six-point cushion. St. Norbert ran out of gas as the Green Knights missed all six of their shots in the final overtime period while scoring all six of its points on free throws as Elmhurst slowly pulled away for the 12-point win.
 
"We really matured in this game," said Elmhurst head coach John Baines. "We have a bunch of juniors on this squad who've never played a tournament game. We played a really good game on the road and our team really grew up tonight."
 
Elmhurst started strong, leading for the majority of the first half, including building a seven-point lead on three occasions. Bryant Ackerman was connecting early, hitting his first four shots to score 10 points in the game's first six minutes.
 
St. Norbert heated up over the final nine minutes of the half. Trailing by seven with nine minutes left, St. Norbert used a 13-3 run over the next five minutes to grab a 28-25 lead. The Green Knights built a four-point cushion with two minutes left after DeValk knocked down the sixth three-pointer of the half for St. Norbert.
 
Elmhurst scored the final five points of the half to carry a 32-31 lead into the locker room. Erik Crittenden splashed home a jumper and Nathan Roger's corner three-pointer with just under a minute left put the Bluejays back in front.
 
St. Norbert turned the tables on the Bluejays in the second half as the Green Knights led for much of the half. Leading by one with 12 minutes left, St. Norbert used an 8-0 run fueled by a pair of Ben Boninski three-pointers to take a nine-point lead with just under 10 minutes remaining.
 
Trailing by six 5:38 left, Leonard hit a three-pointer to slice the lead in the half. A pair of free throws from Wuest pulled Elmhurst to within one with three minutes remaining. After a pair of St. Norbert free throws, Wuest connected from downtown to knot the score at 64-64 with 1:39 remaining. The Green Knights split a pair of free throws on consecutive trips to take a two-point lead with 29 seconds left, setting the stage for Nixon's game-tying layup.
 
Elmhurst trailed by five with just 40 seconds left to play in the first overtime. Wuest knocked down his third three-pointer of the game to bring Elmhurst to within two. St. Norbert traded four free throws for an Elmhurst bucket giving the Green Knights an 80-76 lead with 18 seconds remaining. Leonard collected an offensive rebound and scored to cut the lead in half with seven ticks left on the clock. Austin Elliott split a pair of free throws to give St. Norbert a three-point cushion, but Wuest went the length of the floor and hit the game-tying three-pointer to force a second overtime.
 
After the two teams traded buckets early in the second overtime, St. Norbert grabbed a four-point cushion after Steven Hofacker hit a pair of free throws with 43 seconds. Crittenden converted a pair of free throw attempts to bring Elmhurst to within two points with 36 seconds left. Nathan Rogers then stole the inbounds pass and Crittenden hit the game-tying jumper in the paint. DeValk took the ensuing inbounds pass the length of the court, but couldn't get his lay-up attempt out of his hand before the buzzer sounded.
 
There was no shortage of heroes for the Bluejays in the win as six players reached double figures in scoring. After being held to just one point at the half, Wuest exploded for 31 points after the break, finishing with a career-high 32 points while adding five assists and rebounds in the win. Leonard gave the Bluejays a needed spark off the bench, scoring 17 points while shooting 7-of-8 from the floor. Crittenden netted 16 points for Elmhurst while Bryant Ackerman scored 14 and grabbed seven rebounds before fouling out. Nixon finished with a double-double, scoring 13 and pulling down a team-best 11 rebounds. Nathan Rogers came off the bench to score 12 and added eight rebounds for Elmhurst.
 
St. Norbert entered the game, leading the nation in field goal percentage, but Elmhurst outshot the Green Knights 46.8 percent (37-of-79) to 40.0 percent (26-of-65). Elmhurst hit 9-of-24 attempts (37.5 percent) from downtown while St. Norbert made a living from long range, splashing home 11-of-26 attempts (42.3 percent). Both teams were solid from the foul line as Elmhurst hit 27-of-35 shots (77.1 percent) and St. Norbert converted 35-of-42 attempts (83.3 percent)
 
Austin Elliott paced St. Norbert in the losing effort, scoring a team-leading 31 points. Steve Hofacker added 21 points and eight rebounds while Ben Bobinski chipped in with 16 points. Andrew Schwoerer totaled 14 points and nine rebounds for the Green Knights.
 
Elmhurst takes on the University of Northwestern (Minn.) in tomorrow's second-round contest. The Eagles stunned third-ranked St. Thomas 71-70 on a buzzer-beating three-pointer. 
 
"Northwestern really shot the ball extremely well and had a humongous win tonight," said Baines. "I think they're just as high as we are right now, so we'll have two teams looking to turn the page and into the next round."
 
Tip-off between the Bluejays and the Eagles is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.