The Lake Forest College men's basketball team was defeated 111-103 in triple-overtime by visiting St. Norbert College Tuesday night. Sophomore forward Jim Schick led the Foresters with 25 points and made three of their program record 17 three-pointers in the contest.
Schick shot 10-for-20 from the field and 3-for-8 from three-point range. He also pulled down 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Senior forward Brian Madson also had a double-double with 23 points and 10 boards. Freshman guard Danny Nikitas shot 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, scored 22 points, and added five rebounds and a team-high seven assists. Junior forward Torrey Davis, sophomore guard Andrew Toth, and junior guard Mason Zuniga also reached double figures with 11 points apiece and Zuniga chipped in with five assists and three steals.
Lake Forest out-rebounded St. Norbert 54-40 on the night. The Foresters shot 43.5 percent from the floor and 45.9 percent from three-point range but just 12-for-19 from the free throw line. The Green Knights made half of their field goal attempts but just eight of 26 on three-pointers. The visitors' statistical advantage came at the free throw line, where they knocked down 31 of 43 attempts. St. Norbert also committed just eight turnovers to the Foresters' 20.
The largest lead of the first half was a 22-15 advantage for Lake Forest after a three-pointer by Schick. St. Norbert came back and led by four points before a Madson three-pointer in the closing second of the half made the score 35-34 at intermission.
A layup by Schick to begin the second half was the first of 11 lead changes in the period. Both teams led by as many as seven points, St. Norbert at 51-44 early in the half and Lake Forest at 74-67 with 2:41 remaining. The Foresters led by five and had the ball with just over a minute left but missed the front end of three one-and-one free throw opportunities down the stretch. The Green Knights scored to pull to within three points with 1:05 on the clock and tied the game on a three-pointer with 20.3 seconds to play.
St. Norbert scored the first basket of overtime but the lead changed hands four more times in the period. The visitors made a pair of free throws with 23.4 seconds remaining to pull ahead by three but a three-pointer by Toth with 4.4 seconds on the clock tied the score and forced a second overtime.
A three-pointer by St. Norbert started the scoring in the second overtime. Lake Forest scored the next five points but the Knights tied the score at 91 and again at 93 with just less than a minute left. The visitors took the lead on a pair of free throws with 8.5 seconds remaining but Zuniga drove to the basket and tied the score with 1.6 ticks left.
The Foresters finally ran out of gas in the third overtime. St. Norbert scored the first eight points of the period. A layup by Nikitas trimmed the lead to six and a three-pointer by Zuniga made it a five-point game with 61 seconds left. The Knights, however, made 10 of 12 foul shots in the final to minutes to clinch the victory. A three-pointer by Nikitas with 5.4 seconds remaining was the Foresters' program record 17th of the night, surpassing the previous mark of 16 set in January of 2012 and tied the following November.
Lake Forest is now 1-2 overall this season and 1-1 in Midwest Conference play. St. Norbert improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the league.
The Foresters will travel to Iowa for the second straight weekend and take on Grinnell College at 3:00 Saturday afternoon.
