The Lake Forest College men's basketball team prevailed 90-86 at California Lutheran University Friday night in the championship game of the Thrivent Financial Tournament.
The Foresters had three runs of at least eight consecutive points and made 10 of 14 attempts from three-point range in the opening period. The visitors led 53-37 at halftime and the margin grew to as many as 24 points early in the second half.
Trailing 71-50 with just over 12 minutes remaining, the home team began a furious comeback. A 22-4 run cut the lead to just three points with 3:41 to play and the teams traded points for the next three minutes with Lake Forest holding off the rally by making nine of 12 attempts from the free throw line. The Foresters missed four of their next six foul shots, however, and Cal Lutheran trailed by just two after a basket with 6.1 seconds left and again after a free throw with just 2.3 seconds on the clock. Lake Forest junior guard Eric Porter was fouled a second later and made both free throws to seal the victory.
Porter finished with 11 points and was one of five Foresters to score in double figures. Sophomore forward Danny Sotos shot 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-5 from three-point range and led the squad with 21 points. After shooting 6-for-8 from beyond the arc in Thursday night's semifinal win over Luther College, senior guard Mike Rueffer knocked down four of seven attempts from long range on Friday and was next on the team with 16 points. Senior forward Jim Schick finished with 13 points and his nine rebounds were tied with junior forward Orlando Brown for team-high honors. Freshman Aram Arslanian connected three times from long-range and matched Porter with 11 points. Sophomore guard Jordan Moran led the visitors with five assists.
After shooting nearly 68 percent from the field in the first half, Lake Forest was just 8-for-25 in the second and finished at 50.9 percent for the game. The Foresters made 14 three-pointers (in 26 attempts) to match the seventh-highest single-game total in team history, made 22 of 30 foul shots, and out-rebounded the Kingsmen 38-34 in the contest.
Rueffer finished the tournament with 34 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists and was named the event's Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the Thrivent Financial All-Tournament Team by Schick, who had 27 points and 18 rebounds in the two games combined.
The Foresters are now 4-5 on the season while Cal Lutheran lost for just the second time in 10 games this season.
Lake Forest will resume Midwest Conference play Wednesday night at Monmouth College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.