The Forester men's basketball team was defeated 63-59 at Lawrence University Wednesday night. Lake Forest senior guard Jeff Beck led the visitors with 22 points and matched a program record by making all 10 of his free throw attempts.
Beck is just the sixth player in program history to shoot 10-for-10 at the line and the first since Tim Bernero accomplished the feat in 1986.
Sophomore forward Brian Madson was the only other Forester in double figures with 11 points. He shot 4-for-8 from the field and 3-for-6 from three-point range, pulled down a game-high seven rebounds, and added four steals and three blocked shots.
Lake Forest shot 39.6 percent form the floor while the Vikings made 45.7 percent of their field goal attempts. The Foresters had a 30-28 edge in rebounds and had fewer turnovers than Lawrence (16-17) but committed 21 fouls to the home team's 14.
The Foresters jumped out to a 17-2 lead and were ahead 20-5 before Lawrence closed the gap with a 13-3 run. The margin was 10 points before the home team finished off the first half with seven straight points and trailed 30-27 at intermission.
A Madson three-pointer started a 7-0 run by the Foresters to begin the second half. The Vikings once again chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the score at 45 with less than seven minutes to play. Lawrence was ahead by two when Beck connected on a three-pointer to give Lake Forest a 49-48 lead with 4:48 left. The home team, however, scored the next five points and led the rest of the way. Beck made eight of his free throws in the final two-and-a-half minutes to keep the game close and a layup by freshman forward Mitch Caywood pulled the Foresters to within two points with four seconds on the clock. Lawrence, however, made both free throws a second later to clinch the victory.
Lake Forest fell to 4-9 overall on the season and 2-6 in Midwest Conference play. The Vikings evened their overall record at 6-6 and climbed to 4-3 in the league.
The Foresters will host Monmouth College Saturday at 5:00 p.m.