DE PERE, Wis. – Tim Ward (Jr.-Plainfield, Ill.) set career highs with 24 points and 12 rebounds but St. Norbert College turned back the Lakeland University men's basketball team 79-67 Tuesday night in both teams' Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener.

The Muskies battled throughout but the Green Knights shot 64.3% in the second half to keep enough of a working margin in the final 20 minutes. Lakeland challenged one of the NACC's best teams but dropped to 0-6 overall while St. Norbert improved to 3-0.

The Muskies trailed by five at halftime and were still within six after Ward's layup cut the SNC lead to 52-46 with 12 minutes, 43 seconds left in the game. The Green Knights would score the next six points, though, going up 58-46 on Jamison Nickolai's basket with 11:27 left.

Lakeland would never get closer than 10 the rest of the way, though the Muskies never went away, either. Lakeland cut the margin to 10 on three occasions, the last time when Ward hit two free throws with 2:44 to play.

St. Norbert made 18 of 28 field goals in the second half, though, to keep the Muskies at arm's length. Nickolai's three-pointer with 1:49 left gave the hosts a 76-61 lead, tied for their largest lead of the game.

The first half was close much of the way, with the teams swapping the lead four times early and the teams separated by just a point when Gage Cornell (Jr.-Manitowoc, Wis.) hit a three-pointer to cut the Green Knights' lead to 24-23 with 5:51 left in the half. St. Norbert responded with a 7-0 run and maintained an eight-point lead until Brayden Kennedy (So.-Manitowoc, Wis.) hit a three with 43 seconds left in the half, trimming SNC's margin to 34-29 going into halftime.

Ward posted nearly a double-double (9 points, 10 rebounds) in the first half alone and finished making 8 of 16 from the field, including 2 of 5 from three-point range plus 6 of 8 free throws.

Isaiah Hammond (Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) also scored 11 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Asanjai Hunter (Jr.-Racine, Wis.) also chipped in 10 points and Peyton Mrotek (Jr.-Luxemburg, Wis.) scored eight points. Lakeland shot 41.1% (23 of 56), including 8 of 20 from three-point range (40.0%).

Nickolai finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals to lead St. Norbert, which shot 51.7% for the game (31 of 60) and also outrebounded the Muskies 38-30. Garrett Grzesk and Brandt Wilson both added 15 points each.

Lakeland has a break over Thanksgiving and returns to play next Wednesday, Dec. 4, when it hosts Edgewood College at 5 p.m. in the first game of the men's/women's doubleheader, with the Muskies women's team taking on Benedictine University to follow at 7:15 p.m.