St. Norbert trailed by 15 on two occasions, the latest at 79-64 with 15:23 left to play. The Green Knights were within nine points seven times until getting through that barrier with 8:36 left. St. Norbert managed to tie the game at 104-104 on a basket by Ryan Lallensack, but Grinnell answered with a free throw by David Arseneault and a 3-pointer by Trek Langenhan. Grinnell held no larger than a four-point advantage the rest of the way.
The Green Knights cut it to 114-112 with five seconds left, and Midwest Conference scoring leader John Grotberg made just 1 of 2 free throws following a foul on the inbounds pass. St. Norbert got the ball up the floor quickly but did not get a shot off before the buzzer.
Grinnell shot 46.8 percent from the floor, making 37 of 79 shots and was 18-for-52 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Pioneers also made 23 of 34 free throws and committed 25 turnovers.
St. Norbert outrebounded Grinnell 49-42 but shot only 57 percent from the floor, connecting on 45 of 79 shots. The Green Knights were 20-for-29 at the free-throw line and had just 27 turnovers against Grinnell's frenetic full-court pressure.
Grotberg led all scorers with 32 points, while Mike Schmidt added 21 points for Grinnell. Arseneault, the national assist leader in Division III, added 19 points with eight assists but eight turnovers.
St. Norbert was led by 22 points from Lallensack, with Eric Bieniasz and Nathan Zepnick added 18 points apiece. Jason Adair added 14 points and 10 assists for St. Norbert.