The Lake Forest College men's basketball team posted a 66-55 victory at Cornell College on Saturday in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams. Sophomore guard Andrew Toth led the Foresters with a career-high 18 points in the contest.
Toth shot 4-for-5 from three-point range and 6-for-9 from the field overall. He netted his 18 points in just 19 minutes of play.
Forester sophomore Jim Schick and senior forward Brian Madson also reached double figures with 16 and 12 points, respectively, and they combined for 20 rebounds. Schick shot 7-for-8 from the foul line, grabbed a game-high 11 boards, and recorded his second career double-double. Madson was 6-for-10 from the field and added a pair of steals. Freshman guard Danny Nikitas chipped in with three steals and a game-high six assists.
Lake Forest out-rebounded the Rams 41-23 on the afternoon and shot 7-for-15 from beyond the arc. Cornell's .447 field goal percentage was slightly higher than the Foresters' .426 and the visitors committed 15 turnovers while forcing just 13.
The Rams jumped out to a 7-2 lead and were ahead 11-9 before an 11-0 run by the Foresters put the visitors ahead for good.
Lake Forest led 27-24 at halftime and again by just three points at 34-31 five minutes into the second period. A basket by Madson and a Toth three-pointer made it an eight-point game and the margin fluctuated between five and nine points until Toth's fourth three-pointer of the second half made the score 53-43 with 7:35 to play. The Foresters were able to maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way to secure the first victory for Ken Davis as the team's head coach.
The Foresters and Rams are both 1-1 overall this season.
Lake Forest will continue league play against defending MWC champion St. Norbert College Tuesday night at 7:00.