Mike Rueffer made six three-pointers and Jim Schick scored his 1,000th career point as the Lake Forest College men's basketball team defeated Luther College 66-51 in the semifinals of California Lutheran University's Thrivent Financial Tournament Thursday night.
Rueffer, a senior guard, finished with a game-high 18 points and seven assists on the night. He also grabbed seven boards as the Foresters out-rebounded Luther 50-39.
Schick, a senior forward, was next on the team with 14 points and led all players in the contest with nine rebounds. He also dished out three assists and added a pair of blocked shots. Schick is the 21st player in program history to surpass 1,000 points and the first since Jeff Beck in January of 2013.
The Foresters trailed 12-11 before a basket by junior forward Orlando Brown started a 12-0 run and gave them the lead for good. Brown finished with eight points and was one of seven players on the team with at least five rebounds on the night. Rueffer, who made a pair of three-pointers during the run, connected for the fourth time in the game with 25 seconds on the clock and Lake Forest took a 28-20 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
The Norse cut the lead to five points early in the second half and trailed by six before a basket by Brown and back-to-back three-pointers by Rueffer quickly made it a 14-point game with 11 minutes to play. The margin remained in double figures the rest of the way, reaching a high of 17 after a three-pointer by sophomore forward Danny Sotos with 5:21 on the clock.
Lake Forest shot 41.5 percent from the field on the night while limiting Luther to just 27.9 percent. The Foresters were also 10-for-23 from beyond the arc but just 2-for-7 from the free throw line.
The victory improves the Foresters' overall record on the year to 3-5. Luther fell to 1-8.
Lake Forest will take on host Cal Lutheran in the tournament's championship game Friday night at 7:00 (PST).