Foresters Defeat the Hosts, Take the Title at Carthage College Classic

Foresters Defeat the Hosts, Take the Title at Carthage College Classic

Seniors Orlando Brown and Eric Porter were named to the Carthage College Classic All-Tournament Team after leading the Lake Forest College men's basketball team to a 71-65 victory at Carthage in Saturday's championship game.

Porter, a guard who tied for team-high honors with 17 points in Friday's 101-76 victory over Great Lakes Christian College and 20 against the hosts on Saturday, was selected as the event's Most Outstanding Player. He connected on all five of his attempts from three-point range in the second half on Saturday and scored 17 points in the period.

Brown, a forward, scored five points and led all players in Saturday's contest with 10 rebounds. He also dished out a par of assists and blocked a shot in the game.

Matching Porter's 20 points against Carthage was junior forward Danny Sotos, who shot 7-for-13 from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the arc in the game. He also added seven rebounds.

The Foresters made 46.6 percent of their field goal attempts in the championship, slightly better than the Red Men's 44 percent. The visitors also outscored Carthage 39-24 on three-pointers but shot just 4-for-7 on free throws while the home team made 13 of 19. Lake Forest had a slight edge in rebounds (33-32) and turnovers (13-15).

Carthage's only lead of the first half was 1-0. The Foresters led by as many as a dozen points in the period but the lead shrunk to just one after an 11-2 run late in the half. A dunk by Brown in the final minute made the score 28-25 in favor of the visitors at halftime.

Lake Forest extended its lead to nine points early in the second half but the Red Men came back and tied the score at 43, 45, and 52 before finally pulling ahead on a basket with 6:39 remaining. The lead changed hands five times in the next three minutes and the score was tied for the last time with 3:17 to play. Porter knocked down three pointers on each of the Foresters' next three possessions, giving them a 70-62 lead, and a three-pointer with just over a minute left was all the scoring Carthage could muster down the stretch.

The victory raised the Foresters record on the season to 2-1 while Carthage fell to 1-1.

Lake Forest will begin Midwest Conference play at Beloit College on Tuesday. The contest will begin at 5:30 p.m.