DE PERE, Wis. – University of Northwestern Men's Basketball battled St. Norbert College in the semifinal round of the four-team Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament on Thursday night. The Eagles earned a 68-63 win over the tournament-host Green Knights to punch a ticket to Friday's championship game.
 
In the opening half, the Green Knights took an early 6-4 lead over UNW. The Eagles went ahead 8-6 on a Caleb Hoilien (Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy) three-pointer with 15:36 remaining in the first half; a lead that Northwestern would never give up. UNW led by as many as 14 points in the first half, and took a 35-26 lead into halftime. The Eagles made 15-of-27 from the field for a 55.6 percent clip in the opening half, going 4-for-8 from three-point range. The UNW defense held St. Norbert to just 28.1 percent shooting on 9-of-32 from the field and just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
 
In the second half, Henry Fahnbulleh (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) hit a jumper to put Northwestern up by 16 points at 58-42 with 8:43 on the clock. After that, the Green Knights put together a 10-point run to cut the Eagle lead to six points, leading 58-52 with 3:53 remaining in the game. Fahnbulleh stopped the St. Norbert run with a three-pointer to put UNW back up by nine points. The Green Knights would go on to cut the Eagles' lead down to three points twice in the final 30 seconds on the game, but Northwestern held on to win the holiday tournament semifinal thriller to advance to the championship game.
 
Fahnbulleh led Northwestern with a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double, going 9-for-14 from the field and making both three-point attempts. Hoilien followed with 14 points, going 3-for-7 from three-point range. Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) scored 13 points and added six rebounds.
 
Up next, Northwestern will take on St. Olaf College in the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament Championship on Friday, December 30, at 7:00 P.M. in the Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.