Junior forward Chad Bauchan had six points and five rebounds off the bench but the Forester men's basketball team was defeated 71-40 at St. Norbert College on Wednesday.
Senior guard Eric Porter led the visitors with eight points and junior forward Danny Sotos with nine rebounds. Both players made two of Lake Forest's eight three-pointers as the team raised its season total to 192, just 18 shy of the program record.
The Foresters shot just 27.3 percent from the floor on the evening, more than 10 percent worse than their previous season-low, and were out-rebounded 43-31. Lake Forest also committed 11 turnovers to the Green Knights' seven.
St. Norbert scored the game's first eight points and quickly jumped out to a 28-8 lead. The Foresters trimmed the margin to 15 several times in the opening period but trailed 39-21 at halftime.
A Porter three-pointer with 11:11 to play made it a 13-point game at 48-35 but the Knights scored the next 18 points to put the game well out of reach.
The Foresters are now 15-7 overall this season while St. Norbert improved to 16-6. Both teams are 11-4 in Midwest Conference play and tied for second place in the league standings.
Despite the loss, the Foresters clinched a spot in the four-team MWC Tournament thanks to losses by Lawrence University and Grinnell College. The tourney field is now set and will include Lake Forest, St. Norbert, Ripon College, and league-leading Monmouth College. The final seeds and tournament location has yet to be determined with three games to play in the regular season.
The Foresters' next game will be played at Cornell College Saturday afternoon at 3:00.