Foresters Rout Lawrence to Close Out Regular Season

Photo by Sydney Gardner
Photo by Sydney Gardner

Junior guard Jordan Moran had 13 points, nine rebounds, and a career-high five steals as the Lake Forest College men's basketball team finished off the regular season with an 82-51 victory at Lawrence University on Saturday.

Moran was one of four Foresters to score in double figures on the afternoon. Sophomore guard Aram Arslanian led all players in the contest with 18 points and freshman guard Sean Espinosa was next with 16. They combined to shoot 14-for-23 from the field, 3-for-5 from three-point range, and 3-for-3 from the foul line. Arslanian added five rebounds and Espinosa dished out a game-high five assists. Senior guard Eric Porter finished with a dozen points on four shots from beyond the arc and Lake Forest established a new program record with 216 three-pointers on the season.

The Foresters shot 47.8 percent from the floor while limiting Lawrence to 33.9 percent. The visitors also outscored the Vikings 24-21 on three-pointers and 10-4 on free throws, out-rebounded the hosts 42-34, and forced 19 turnovers while committing just nine. Lake Forest now has fewer than 10 turnovers in seven of the last eight contests after failing to accomplish the feat once in the first 17 games of the season.

Lawrence led by as many as eight points in the first half and was ahead 25-19 before the Foresters rattled off 16 consecutive points during a four-minute span. Arslanian scored six points and Espinosa made two baskets and added two assists during the run. The visitors pulled ahead by 14 before a Viking layup in the closing seconds made the halftime score 42-30.

Lake Forest scored 17 of the first 21 points of the second half to extend the lead to 25. The margin eventually grew to 34 before ending at 31.

The Foresters closed out the regular season 17-8 overall and 13-5 in  Midwest Conference play. Lawrence finished 2017-18 with an overall record of 11-13 and a 7-11 mark in the league.

Lake Forest will travel to league champion Monmouth College for next weekend's MWC Tournament and will take on the hosts in the semifinals on Friday.