Sophomore guard Aram Arslanian poured in a career-high 25 points to lead the shorthanded Forester men's basketball team to a 67-52 victory Wednesday evening at Illinois College.
With his team missing two starters, Arslanian helped pick up the slack by shooting 11-for-18 from the field and leading the visitors with a career-high-tying seven rebounds and three steals.
Junior forward Danny Sotos was the only other Foresters to score in double figures. He made a pair of three-pointers in the contest and matched his scoring average on the year with 14 points.
Lake Forest shot 44.4 percent from the field and made just four of 20 attempts from three-point range. The Foresters limited the Blueboys to just 35.3 percent shooting, out-rebounded them 37-32, and committed a season-low five turnovers while forcing a dozen. The team's previous low for turnovers in a game this year was 10.
Illinois College led by as many as four points and the Foresters by three in a first half that included four ties and six lead changes. A pair of free throws by Lake Forest sophomore forward Jason Hasenberg with no time on the clock broke a 27-27 tie and gave the visitors the lead at halftime.
Arslanian accounted for eight points as Lake Forest outscored the Blueboys 25-6 during the first 10 minutes of the second half. The visitors eventually pulled ahead by a game-high 20 points on a traditional three-point play by Arslanian with 2:23 remaining and Illinois College scored the final five points of the contest.
The Foresters improved to 12-6 overall this season and are now tied for second place in the Midwest Conference standings with at 8-3 in league play. Illinois College fell to 7-11 overall and 2-9 in the MWC.
Lake Forest will return home to face Knox College Saturday afternoon at 3:00.
