PLYMOUTH, Wis. – St. Norbert College shot 61.3% in the first half and the Lakeland University men's basketball team fell in a big hole in the first half that it was unable to climb out of in an 84-66 loss Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Green Knights built a 22-point halftime lead and stayed in control in the second half to defeat the Muskies for the third straight time since joining the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in 2021. The defending NACC champions improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in conference while Lakeland dropped to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in league play.
St. Norbert never trailed in the game, with the Muskies only tying once at 3-3 in the early minutes after a three-pointer by
Brayden Kennedy (
Fr.-Manitowoc, Wis.). Mixing scoring inside with good shooting from the perimeter, the Green Knights built a double-digit lead by the middle of the first half and maintained that double-digit margin for good with a 21-6 run over the final 7 minutes, 15 seconds of the first half to take a 47-25 halftime lead.
The Green Knights made 19 of 31 shots from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including 6 of 8 from three-point range. The Muskies came out comparatively cold, shooting 36.0% (9 of 25) in the first half including 4 of 16 on three-pointers, and made just two field goals in the final 7:36 during SNC's run to break the game open.
Lakeland fared better in the second half, making 14 of 31 shots (45.2%) including
Cam Jaeger (
Jr.-Oostburg, Wis.) scoring 23 of his game-high 28 points after halftime. The teams largely traded baskets in the second half, though, with the Muskies getting no closer than 17 points late.
Kennedy added 19 points, making 7 of 12 from the field including 5 of 9 from three-point range, but Lakeland received just 19 points from the rest of the team after the freshman and Jaeger combined for 47 points.
Isaiah Hammond (
Jr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) added eight points and seven rebounds plus four assists and
Asanjai Hunter (
So.-Kenosha, Wis.) finished with five assists.
The Muskies finished shooting 41.1% from the field, making 23 of 56 shots. St. Norbert hit at a 55.0% rate for the contest, making 33 of 60 shots, and also outrebounded Lakeland 38-24. The Green Knights also posted a 42-18 advantage in points in the paint, with Jamison Nickolai and Carter Gebler leading the guests with 16 points each.
Lakeland goes on the road for its next game Saturday at Dominican University at 1 p.m. in River Forest, Ill.
