Sophomore forward Danny Sotos poured in a game-high 27 points but the Forester men's basketball team was defeated 78-68 by visiting University of Chicago on Saturday.
Sotos shot 12-for-16 from the field and made three of six attempts from three-point range. He was 7-for-8 on field goal attempts while scoring 17 points in the second half. Senior guard Andrew Toth scored 11 of his 13 points after halftime and led the Foresters with a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Sophomore guard Jordan Moran and senior forward Jim Schick also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Moran added a team-high three steals and sophomore guard Trenton McCarthy led all players in the game with seven assists.
Chicago shot 49 percent and Lake Forest 46 percent from the field. The Maroons outscored the home team 27-15 on three-pointers and 13-7 from the free throw line. Rebounds were even at 36 apiece.
The Foresters trailed by as many as 10 points on three different occasions in the first half. The home team trimmed the margin to four on a basket by Sotos with two minutes to play in the period and faced a halftime deficit of five at 34-29.
Lake Forest pulled to within a point on a layup by Schick with 13:34 to play and was down by just two several times, the last at 62-60 with 3:48 left. Back-to-back three-pointers by the Maroons extended their lead to eight but five straight points by Sotos made it a three-point game with two minutes remaining. The visitors responded with another three-pointer and connected on seven of 10 fouls shots down the stretch to seal the victory.
The Foresters are now 0-2 and the Maroons 1-1 on the season.
Lake Forest will begin Midwest Conference play against Beloit College on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
