The Lake Forest College men's basketball team defeated Trine University 63-51 on Wednesday to earn a split in its two games at the RDV D3 Basketball Classic at the RDV Sportsplex in Orlando, Florida. Forester junior post player Travis Clark recorded game-highs with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Lake Forest's frontcourt accounted for 54 of the team's 63 points in the contest. Junior forwards Nate Bateman and Drew Grennell finished with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Bateman also led the squad with four assists and three steals. Grennell had eight of the team's 36 rebounds in the contest. Trine finished with just 21 boards.
The Foresters made at least half of its field goal attempts for the fourth time in nine games this season. They shot 50.9 percent from the floor on Wednesday while limiting Trine to just 40.4 percent.
An 11-0 run early in the contest gave Lake Forest a lead it would never relinquish. The margin grew to as many as 13 points in the first half, which ended with the Foresters ahead 29-20.
Trine trimmed the deficit to six points (35-29) with 15:38 to play but would get no closer. The Foresters outscored their opponents 22-11 over the next 10-plus minute to gradually put the game out of reach.
Lake Forest is now 4-5 overall this season and finished with non-conference play. The Foresters' next game will be on Saturday, January 8, at Illinois College. The Midwest Conference game will begin at 5:00 p.m. and a live video webcast of the contest will be available at www.pennatlantic.com.