WAUWATOSA, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- St. Norbert College captured its second Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Men's Basketball Tournament title in three years with a 70-52 win over top-seeded and No. 17-ranked Wisconsin Lutheran College Sunday at the Time of Grace Center.
After matching the host Warriors score-for-score over the first seven minutes, the No. 2-seeded Green Knights (22-6) used a 9-0 run to take an 18-9 lead at the midway point of the first half. Connor Pytleski kicked off the run with five straght points, while a pair of baskets inside from Brandt Wilson capped it.
The lead grew to eight points (25-17) on a 3-pointer from Tournament MVP Jamison Nickolai at the 6:40 mark, but Wisconsin Lutheran rallied to outscore St. Norbert, 19-6, to close out the half and take a 36-31 lead into the break. Ryan Broeckel all of his 12 first-half points during the stretch.
WLC grabbed a 40-34 lead on a jumper from Jacob Stoltz with 18:19 to play, but the Green Knights used an 8-1 run to erase the Warrior advantage and never looked back, closing the game by outscoring the hosts, 36-12.
Nickolai finished with 13 second-half points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, while Garrett Grzesk finished with 10.
Overall, Nickolai finished with game-highs in points (21) and rebounds (12) while shooting 9-of-14 from the floor. Brandt Wilson added 16 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks, while Grzesk had 12.
The Green Knights shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from the field in the contest, compared to just 29.3 percent (17-of-58) for Wisconsin Lutheran. The Green Knights also had a 44-18 advantage in points in the paint and were aided by a poor shooting day by the Warriors from beyond the arc. WLC hit just five of 32 3-point field-goal attempts.
Broeckel led the Warriors with 16 points with most of his points coming from the free-throw line, where he made eight of nine attempts. He also had seven rebounds. AJ Vos had nine points, four steals, and two assists, while Jacob Stoltz filled up the stat sheet with five points, five assists, three steals, and seven rebounds.
With the victory, St. Norbert secured the NACC's automatic berth in the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship. Based on their season record and current national standing, Wisconsin Lutheran is a likely at-large candidate. The full field and bracket for the 64-team championship will be unveiled at 11 a.m. Monday, March 3 on an NCAA.com selection show.
2025 NACC Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team
Jamison Nickolai, St. Norbert (MVP)
Garrett Grzesk, St. Norbert
Brandt Wilson, St. Norbert
Ryan Broeckel, Wisconsin Lutheran
Grayson Goetz, Wisconsin Lutheran
Logan Landers, Concordia Wisconsin
Donovan Carter, MSOE