John Taylor hit a 3-pointer with under 2 minutes to go but his 12-footer fell short with three seconds left. St. Norbert athletics photo

DE PERE, Wis. - St. Norbert College's last-ditch rally came up literally inches short as the Green Knights fell to Augustana 57-56 in a battle of nationally ranked teams in the title game of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament at Schuldes Sports Center's Connie Tilley Court.

The Green Knights, ranked No. 12 by D3hoops.com, fell to 8-2 on the year. Augustana, ranked No. 10, remained unbeaten at 10-0.

Bryant Voiles canned a 3-pointer from the right wing with 2 minutes 21 seconds left to giving the Vikings a seemingly comfortable 57-50 lead, but the visitors would not score the rest of the game. David Wipperfurth split a pair of free throws with 2:07 to go to make it 57-51.

St. Norbert's defense forced Augustana into a turnover and John Taylor canned a 3 with 1:46 left. The Vikings missed a short shot and Wipperfurth was fouled on the rebound, connecting on his two free throws to make it 57-56 with 1:08 left. The Vikings turned it over again, but Wipperfurth's 16-footer with 36 seconds left was short. The rebound resulted in a held ball going to Augustana.

Taylor stole the inbounds pass, leading to the game's final possession. Taylor had about a 12-foot elbow jumper fall just shy with 3 seconds left, and Augustana chased down the loose ball in the ensuing scrum to end the game.

St. Norbert held its biggest lead at 14-9 about seven minutes into the game, but Augustana rallied to go up by as much as nine at 27-18 with 2:04 left before halftime. An 8-2 St. Norbert run closed out the first half to 29-26.

Wipperfurth led St. Norbert with 13 points, while Taylor added 10 points with five assists and one turnover in 34 minutes. Both were named to the all-tournament team. St. Norbert shot 38.3 percent (18-for-47) from the floor but canned 9 of 15 3-pointers.

Augustana did not have a player score in double figures. Kameron Norton led the Vikings with nine points off the bench, while Kyle Nelson and Voiles each had eight points. All three were named all-tournament, with Voiles being selected as the MVP.