Senior guard Jordan Moran turned in his second consecutive 28-point, 14-rebound performance to help lead Lake Forest to a 99-77 victory over Grinnell College Friday night in the semifinals of the 2019 Midwest Conference Tournament.
Moran connected on 12 of 17 attempts from the field and led all scorers in just 23 minutes of playing time off the bench. He is now shooting 69.7 percent on the season and his 10.4 points per game give the team six players in double figures this year.
Four of the Foresters' five starters also reached double figures in points Friday night, led by junior guard Aram Arslanian with a career-high-tying 25. He shot 12-for-15 from the floor and added eight rebounds and four assists. Sophomore guard Sean Espinosa was next with 16 points and senior forward Danny Sotos posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. Junior guard Sam Husting finished with 11 points and matched his career-high and Espinosa for game-high honors with seven assists.
Lake Forest trailed 54-44 at halftime and 64-55 with 15 minutes remaining. The story of the game was the next nine minutes, during which the Foresters allowed the second-highest scoring team in the nation (119.3 ppg) to just two points while pouring in 29 themselves. Lake Forest shot 63.6 percent from the field in the second half while limiting the Pioneers to just 28.6 percent and out-rebounding them 19-9.
The result of the game raised the Foresters' record on the season to 17-9 and ended Grinnell's year at 19-6.
Lake Forest advance to the tournament final Saturday afternoon at 3:00 against the winner of Friday night's other semifinal between Monmouth College and host St. Norbert College.