The Lake Forest College men's basketball team defeated visiting Illinois College 77-65 Wednesday night and improved to 8-8 overall and 6-5 in Midwest Conference play this season. Forester junior post player Travis Clark led all players in the game with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
It was Clark's sixth double-double and highest point total of the season. He shot 9-for-12 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the contest.
Junior forward Nate Bateman was next on the squad with a season-high 23 points. He knocked down four three-pointers in the game and added four rebounds and four steals.
Sophomore guard Jeff Beck was the only other Forester to reach double figures with 10 points. Junior guard Chris Roets scored eight and led the team with five assists.
The Foresters shot 48.1 percent from the field and limited Illinois College to 40.8 percent. Lake Forest connected on seven of 22 three-pointers and 18 of 21 foul shots. The visitors shot 9-for-23 from beyond the arc and 16-for-22 from the line. The Foresters out-rebounded their guests 31-29 and committed just six turnovers while forcing 11 Blueboy miscues.
Lake Forest took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Bateman two-and-a-half minutes into the game. The margin grew to as many as eight points in the first half and the Foresters were ahead 37-31 at intermission. Clark was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line in the game's first 20 minutes but had one fewer than Bateman's 15 points at the break.
After the home team extended its lead to 11 points early in the second half, an 11-2 Blueboy run cut it to two (48-46) with 11:46 to play in the game. The Foresters gradually increased the margin and a 9-0 run late in the contest, culminating with a deep three-pointer by Bateman with just 27 seconds left, gave the home team a game-high 16-point advantage.
Illinois College fell to 10-6 overall and dropped into a tie with Lake Forest for fifth place in the league standing with a conference record of 6-5.
The Foresters will travel to Grinnell Colleg on Saturday and take on the Pioneers at 3:00 p.m. A live video webcast of the contest will be available at www.pennatlantic.com.