Behind a game-high 29 points by freshman forward Danny Sotos, the Forester men's basketball team prevailed 77-69 at Lawrence University Wednesday afternoon.
Sotos, who scored nine points in his collegiate debut and 17 in game two last Tuesday, poured in 29 on Wednesday. He shot 10-for-15 from the floor, 5-for-7 from three-point range, and 4-for-6 from the free throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds in the contest.
Lake Forest junior forward Schick scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds, including six at the offensive end of the court. After three games this season, he is averaging 20.7 points and 14.3 rebounds while shooting 62.2 percent from the field.
Forester freshman guard Jordan Moran and sophomore forward Orlando Brown scored nine points apiece and sophomore guard Eric Porter added eight.
Sotos scored 16 of Lake Forest's 29 points in the opening period and the visitors trailed by three at halftime.
Lawrence extended its lead to as many as eight points in the second half and led 45-40 with 14 minutes remaining. A three-pointer by Forester sophomore guard Danny Nikitas and a basket by Schick tied the score and, after a Lawrence free throw, a three-pointer by Brown gave the visitors the lead for good. A Porter three-pointer and a layup by Sotos finished off an 11-1 Lake Forest run and made the score 53-46 with just over nine minutes to play. Twice the Vikings trimmed the margin to two points but a 10-2 Forester run extended it to 10 at 67-57 with 5:20 left. The home team eventually made it a three-point game after a layup by Jamie Nikitas, Danny's older brother, with 47.7 seconds on the clock. The Foresters held Lawrence scoreless the rest of the way while making five of seven free throws to secure the win.
Lake Forest shot 47.3 percent from the field and made 11 of 23 (47.8%) tries from three-point range. The Vikings connected on just 41.3 percent of field goal attempts, including only six of 24 shots from beyond the arc. The Foresters also had a commanding 44-27 edge in rebounds but committed 17 of the game's 29 turnovers.
It was the first Midwest Conference game of the season for the Foresters, who are now 1-2 overall. Lawrence fell to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the league.
The Foresters will host Illinois Institute of Technology in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon at 4:00.