The Lake Forest College men's basketball team won 66-58 in overtime at Lawrence University Friday night. Forester senior post player Travis Clark led all players in the contest with 24 points nine rebounds, and six assists.
Clark shot 10-for-16 from the field and added a blocked shot and two steals in 40 minutes of play.
Lake Forest junior point guard Jeff Beck and sophomore guard James Stack were next on the team with 12 points apiece and Stack added six rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Drew Grennell was right behind Clark with eight rebounds as the Foresters put-rebounded the home team 47-31 in the contest.
The Foresters shot just 39.3 percent from the field but held Lawrence to 32.7 percent. Lake Forest was also just 7-for-29 from three-point range and 11-for-19 from the foul line. The Vikings stayed in the game by making 10 of 27 three-pointers and 14 of 18 free throws. Both teams committed a dozen turnovers.
Stack entered the night having made 10 conesutive three-pointers over the last three games but missed on his first shot from beyond the arc just 17 seconds into the contest. After Lawrence started the scoring with a three-pointer Stack connected from long range for the 19th game in a row. The Vikings then jumped out to a 13-4 lead and remained ahead for the rest of the opening period.
Trailing 30-25 at halftime, the Foresters outscored Lawrence 13-4 to take a 38-34 lead four minutes into the second half. The Vikings scored the game's next six points and neither squad led by more than four during the rest of regulation. After Clark tied the game at 50 on a pair of free throws with 5:05 remaining, two minutes passed before a Lawrence basket broke the deadlock. Clark made a layup a minute later and then answered two Vikings free throws with another layup with just over a minute on the clock. The Foresters had a couple of shots at winning the game in the final seconds but were unable to connect.
Lake Forest won the tip to begin overtime and quickly took control of the game. A fadeaway jump shot by senior forward Nate Bateman on the first possession gave the Foresters the lead and a basket by Grennell extended the lead to four points. After Lawrence pulled to within two, Clark and Stack each scored three points to put the visitors ahead 64-56 with 1:35 to play. Each team made a pair of free throws in the final 70 seconds to close out the scoring.
The Foresters are now 17-2 overall and 13-1 in Midwest Conference play. Thanks to a Grinnell loss at Ripon College, Lake Forest regained sole possession of first place in the league standings. Lawrence fell to 7-11 overall and 6-8 in the conference.
Lake Forest will play at Carroll University tomorrow afternoon at 4:00.
