Foresters Rout Grinnell, Climb to Third Place in MWC Standings

The Lake Forest College men's basketball team climbed to third place in the Midwest Conference standings with a 89-56 victory over visiting Grinnell College on Saturday (January 30). The Foresters are now 8-9 overall and 6-4 in the MWC after winning six of their last seven league games. The Pioneers fell to 4-12 overall and 3-7 in conference play.

After setting a career-high with 15 rebounds at Grinnell on January 5, Lake Forest senior forward Patrick Hanley (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield) pulled down 16 boards against the Pioneers on Saturday. He also dished out 15 assists, the second-highest total in team history.

Forester sophomore post player Travis Clark (Evanston, Ill./Evanston) led all players in the game with 27 points. After missing his first two field goal attempts of the game, Clark made his last 13. He also added eight rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot, and two steals. Sophomore forward Drew Grennell (Tinley Park, Ill./Providence Catholic) was next on the squad with 15 points and his 10 rebounds were a career-high. Freshman guard Jeff Beck (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown) also reached double figures with 12 points and added a pair of steals.

Lake Forest shot 63.1 percent from the field but made just two of 12 three-pointers and five of 15 free throws. The Foresters held Grinnell to 29.9 percent shooting from the floor and out-rebounded the Pioneers 58-26.

Lake Forest scored the game's first six points and never relinquished the lead. Forester runs of 8-0 and 12-0 helped extend the margin to as many as 21 points in the first half, which ended with the home team leading 53-33.

The Lake Forest lead grew to a game-high 39 points after a 19-3 second half run.

The Foresters will host Monmouth College Tuesday night (February 2) at 7:30. A live video webcast, a live radio broadcast, and live stats will be available on the Lake Forest College Athletics Web site during the contest.