DE PERE, Wis. - St. Norbert College earned at least a share of its sixth Midwest Conference title in the last seven seasons with a 72-56 win over Beloit College in Schuldes Sports Center.
The Green Knights (18-2, 15-0 MWC), who won for the 59th consecutive time against a MWC opponent, leads Carroll University by three games with three games left to play in the regular season. St. Norbert also clinched hosting chores for the Midwest Conference Tournament, to be held Feb. 26-27 at Schuldes Sports Center.
St. Norbert dominated the first 10 minutes of the game, taking a 27-4 lead on Seth Taylor's jumper with 10:14 left in the first half. The Green Knights opened the game with a 7-0 lead and then after a Beloit basket went on an 11-0 run to take an 18-2 advantage. Beloit scored again for an 18-4 margin, but St. Norbert went on a 9-0 run to take its 23-point lead. D.J. DeValk had three 3-pointers in the first 6:03 of the game.
Beloit would trim the deficit down to 31-16 with 5:57 left in the half but St. Norbert then went on an 8-0 run to retake control. Terrence Garner had six points during that run for the Green Knights, who led 41-19 at halftime.
Taylor's hoop at the 12:02 mark of the second half put the Green Knights ahead 51-33, but the Buccaneers rallied to close to within single digits. Rudy Bentley had eight of Beloit's 12 points during a 12-2 run that saw the Buccaneers close to within 53-45 with 7:59 to go. But Mitch Winter's 3-pointer at the 7:02 mark put the Green Knights ahead by 11 and they would never lead by less than double digits the rest of the game.
St. Norbert shot 45.0 percent (27-for-60) from the floor and outrebounded the Buccaneers 40-37. DeValk finished with 21 points and Garner added 17 points.
Beloit shot 36.2 percent (21-for-58) from the floor. Bentley had 15 points to lead the Buccaners, while Steve McAfee added 12 points and Carlton Henning 11 points.