The Forester men's basketball team earned its first victory of the season Saturday afternoon, defeating host Grinnell College 106-94.
It was also the first career win for Lake Forest Head Coach Ryan Davis, whose squad shot 53.5 percent from the field, knocked down a season-high 13 three-pointers, and connected on 17 of 20 foul shots. Grinnell shot 36.6 percent from the floor, 20-for-64 from beyond the arc, and 14-for-20 at the line. The Foresters had a commanding 58-32 edge in rebounds but committed 19 turnovers to the Pioneers' seven.
The visitors were led in scoring by freshman wing Ethan Augusto, who shot 9-for-20 on three-pointers and finished with a season-high 28 points. Junior forward Johnny Roeser was next with 26 points and he added a career-high 21 rebounds, including 10 at the offensive end of the court, and six assists.
Four other Foresters also scored in double figures. Sophomore forward Val Oplchenski shot 7-for-10 from the field and finished with 15 points. Sophomore guard Zach Foster and junior forward Frank Siegien accounted for 11 points apiece and senior guard Sean Espinosa had 10 to go along with 11 assists, eight rebounds, and a pair of steals.
Grinnell led by as many as seven points early in the contest but Lake Forest eventually pulled ahead for the first time on an Augusto three-pointer with 11 minutes to play in the opening period. A 20-4 run by the Forester later in the half made it a 20-point game and the visitors led 66-51 at halftime. It was the sixth-highest scoring period in team history.
Neither team put together any sort of dominating runs in the second half and the Foresters led by at least 10 points throughout the period. Espinosa and Roeser combined to shoot 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute to help preserve the victory.
It was the first Midwest Conference game of the year for both teams. Lake Forest is now 1-5 overall while Grinnell fell to 2-3.
The Foresters will host a non-conference game against Millikin University Tuesday night at 7:00.