SUPERIOR, Wis. – St. Norbert held off a hard-charging UW-Superior men's basketball team for a 54-48 victory in non-conference action at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium on Saturday.
 
The Yellowjackets hung with SNC (2-0) all day and were tied with the Green Knights at 41-41 when sophomore Josh Reinertsen (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) knocked down a 3-pointer off of a feed from junior Eli Vogel (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West) with six-and-a-half minutes to play. St. Norbert scored the next four points to take the lead but a trey by Vogel with 1:20 to play pulled UWS to within 50-48, setting the stage for a tight finish. 
 
After a Jacob Bolwek turnover, Vogel missed another triple, but classmate Xavier Patterson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) ripped down the rebound for a second chance. SNC's Michael Payant stripped Patterson of the ball with 23 seconds left and he knocked down four free throws in the final seconds for the final margin.
 
The game featured five tie scores and six lead changes with neither team gaining more than a six-point advantage throughout. Junior Mason Ackley (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) put the 'Jackets up, 16-10 with a 3-pointer at the 8:46 mark in the first half prior to St. Norbert using a 6-2 run to cut it to an 18-16 game with six minutes to play before halftime. Superior held a 26-22 advantage at the break.
 
Josef Fahrenholtz (Chatfield, Minn./Chatfield) extended the lead to 30-24 three minutes into the second half before the Green Knights' Garrett Grzesk converted a pair of layups for a 34-32 lead with just under 13 minutes remaining. J'Vaun Walker (Rosharon, Texas/Manvel) and Patterson responded with the next two buckets, respectively, to regain the lead for Superior at 36-34.
 
Payant canned a 3 two possessions later for a 37-36 lead, but Reinertsen knocked down a jumper following a Patterson steal to regain the lead for UWS for the final time.  
 
Vogel paced Superior with 11 points while Reinertsen added 10. Fahreholtz chipped in with six points and seven boards. 
 
UWS connected on 22-of-51 attempts from the floor for 43.1 percent whie SNC shot 20-for-53 for 37.5 percent. 
 
Carson Talbert and Bolwerk led the Green Knights with 16 and 13 points, respectively. 
 
The Yellowjackets return to action Wednesday at St. Scholastica at 7:30 p.m.