Thanks in part to a career-high 16 points by senior guard Jordan Gipson in his final collegiate game, the Lake Forest College men's basketball team defeated visiting Monmouth College 69-66 on Saturday in the season finale for both squads.
Gipson scored half of his points from the free throw line and had a pair of steals in the game. His previous career-high was 15 points, a total he had reached twice this season and three times overall.
Freshman forward Jim Schick led all players in the contest with 20 points and eight rebounds. He shot 6-for-11 from the field and 7-for-9 from the foul line. Freshman guard Josh Irving was the only other Forester in double figures with 10 points.
Lake Forest's .421 field goal percentage on the day was only slightly better than Monmouth's mark of .414 but the home team made 30 free throws in 43 attempts while the Fighting Scots made just 12 of 18 tried from the foul line. The Foresters also had a 36-29 edge in rebounds but committed 19 of the game's 30 turnovers.
Monmouth led by as many as 10 points in the opening period but by just one (32-31) at halftime.
The Foresters scored the first seven points of the second half but six in a row by the Scots tied the score at 38. The teams were tied five more times in the period, the last at 58 with 4:56 to play. A three-pointer by Gipson on the next possession then put the home team ahead for good and he regained a three-point advantage for Lake Forest on a pair of free throws with 26.7 seconds on the clock. Monmouth made one of two free throws with 8.2 seconds left and Forester junior forward Tyrone Staggers did the same with 6.3 seconds remaining to account for the final score.
Lake Forest finished the 2013-14 season with an overall record of 8-15 and a Midwest Conference mark of 7-11. Monmouth fell to 6-17 overall and 5-13 in the league.
Gipson is the only Forester in his last year of eligibility.