The Forester men's basketball team was defeated 81-74 by visiting Monmouth College on Saturday. Senior forward Brian Madson led Lake Forest with 19 points and added eight rebounds and three blocked shots on the evening.
Madson shot 7-for-11 from the field, made both of his attempts from three-point range, and converted all three of his free throws. It was his second straight game with three blocked shots and the fourth time this season he has accomplished that feat.
Junior forward Torrey Davis was next on the Foresters with 18 points and freshman Danny Nikitas added 13. Davis also pulled down seven rebounds and Nikitas dished out four assists. Sophomore forward Jim Schick led the home team with nine rebounds and junior guard Mason Zuniga with five assists.
Lake Forest shot 42.6 percent from the field while Monmouth connected on 48.3 percent of their field goal attempts. Both teams were 10-for-22 from three-point range. It was the second game in a row and fourth contest this season during which the Foresters made double-digit three-pointers. The home team had a 37-32 edge in rebounds but committed 14 of the game's 22 turnovers.
Five different Foresters went to the free throw line at least once in the contest and they combined to make all 12 of their attempts. It was just the second time in program history that the team connected on at least 10 free throws without a miss. Lake Forest was 11-for-11 from the charity stripe against the University of Chicago in November of 1992.
Lake Forest jumped out to a 10-2 lead after just four offensive possessions but Monmouth quickly came back and went ahead 13-12 less than seven minutes into the game. The lead changed hands six times in the next nine minutes before the Fighting Scots went on a 10-2 run to grab a six-point advantage with three minutes remaining in the half. Twice the Foresters cut the deficit to a single point but it was back up to six (43-37) at halftime.
Monmouth scored the first five points of the second half but the Foresters quickly battled back to within four. The Scots lead grew to 14 points (62-48) before a 16-2 Lake Forest run, which included eight points by junior guard Austin Terry, tied the score at 64 with six-and-a-half minutes remaining. The visitors scored the next seven points but the Foresters came back again and trailed by just a basket with two minutes on the clock. They would get no closer, however, and Monmouth made six of eight free throws in the final 90 seconds to help secure the victory.
Lake Forest fell to 9-9 overall on the season and 8-6 in Midwest Conference play. The Scots improved to 13-5 overall and 10-3 in the league.
The Foresters will host Knox College next Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
