The Forester men's basketball team hosted and defeated Knox College 65-63 in Midwest Conference action Tuesday night.
Lake Forest shot 53.1 percent from the field while limiting the Prairie Fire to just 40.7 percent. The visitors, however, outscored the Foresters 21-18 on three-pointers and 8-7 from the foul line while committing just five of the game's 14 turnovers.
The Foresters led 38-26 at halftime and increased the margin to 15 points early in the second period. Seven straight points by Knox made it a five-point game with 13 minutes to play but the Lake Forest lead was back up to 12 five minutes later. Trailing 62-53 with six-and-a-half minutes left, the Prairie Fire started another 7-0 run that cut the deficit to two points at the 3:24 mark. Each team scored just three points the rest of the way and the Foresters never relinquished the lead. Knox closed to within one on a free throw with 4.8 seconds on the clock but Lake Forest junior wing Johnny Roeser secured the rebound on the second attempt to clinch the victory.
Roeser recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the contest. Sophomore guard Rocco Ronzio led the home team with 16 points while freshman wing Ethan Augusto and guard Alex Knight added 13 and 11, respectively.
Lake Forest is now 4-9 overall and 3-1 in Midwest Conference play on the season. Knox fell to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the league.
The Foresters will continue conference play against visiting Cornell College on Saturday.