All five starters scored at least 13 points but Lake Forest struggled defensively Thursday evening in a 91-85 loss to visiting Cornell College.
Junior guard Sean Espinosa led the home team with 21 points and freshman guard Aidyn Albright was next with 19. Senior wing Aram Arslanian finished with 17, senior guard Sam Husting 14, and junior wing Michael Drew Jr. 13. Arslanian's eight rebounds were the most by a Forester in the contest and his four assists tied him with Espinosa for the team lead.
Lake Forest was not inefficient on offense, shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 40 percent (12-for-30) from three-point range. The Rams, however, connected on 58.6 percent of their field goal attempts and matched the Foresters 12 three-pointers on 10 fewer attempts. The visitors also had a slight 31-27 edge in rebounds.
The Foresters' only lead of the night was 2-0. Cornell scored the game's next eight points and the home team was never able to catch up. The margin reached as many as 16 points at 39-23 and the visitors led 46-36 going into the locker room at halftime.
Lake Forest closed to within six early in the second half but the deficit returned to double figures just a few possessions later. An Espinosa free throw made it a six-point game again with 8:39 to play but the Foresters were soon behind by 13. Trailing 86-74 with two minutes left, the home team used an 11-1 run over the next 90 seconds to make it a two-point game. However, a pair of Cornell free throws were followed by a Forester turnover and a Ram layup to leave the comeback attempt incomplete.
Lake Forest is now 12-12 overall this season and 9-8 in Midwest Conference play. Cornell improved to 13-11 overall and 8-9 in the league.
Both teams are still in contention for a berth in the four-team MWC Tournament. The Foresters can clinch their spot with a victory over Grinnell College at home on Saturday. The regular season finale will begin at 1:00 p.m.