The Lake Forest College men's basketball team hosted and defeated the University of St. Francis 76-51 Wednesday night. Freshman forward Brian Madson shot 4-for-5 from three-point range and scored a game-high 17 points.
Madson entered the contest having scored just seven career points in 20 minutes spread over six games. He played 18 minutes on Wednesday, shot 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from the foul line, and added three rebounds and two blocked shots.
Senior post player Travis Clark was next on the team with 16 points and he pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Clark was 7-for-10 from the floor and set a new career-high with five steals. Sophomore guard James Stack and junior point guard Jeff Beck chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Senior forward Nate Bateman scored six points, grabbed eight boards, and dished out a game-high six assists.
Lake Forest shot a season-best 54.5 percent from the field and made seven of 16 three-pointers and nine of 14 foul shots. The Foresters entered the week ranked 22nd in the nation in field goal percentage defense and 11th in three-point field goal percentage defense. They limited St. Francis to 37.7 percent shooting from the field, which included just two three-pointers in 16 attempts. The home team also had a commanding 41-22 edge in rebounds but committed 19 of the game's 35 turnovers.
The first two baskets of the contest were layups by Stack and Bateman and the Foresters led throughout. The margin reached double figures on a layup by Beck with 8:30 to play in the first half, grew to as many as 16 in the period, and was 12 (36-24) at halftime.
The Fighting Saints trimmed the deficit to 10 four times early in the second half but would get no closer. A 14-3 run by Lake Forest extended the lead to 21 points with 12:48 to play and the margin reached as many as 26 late in the game.
The Foresters are now 8-1 overall on the season while St. Francis fell to 8-6.
Lake Forest will put their perfect 4-0 Midwest Conference record on the line Saturday against visiting Illinois College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
