The Lake Forest College men's basketball team hosted and defeated Beloit College 77-63 on Saturday to complete a season sweep of the Buccaneers.
Forester Sean Espinosa led all players in the contest with 24 points. The senior guard shot 9-for-17 from the field and knocked down both of his attempts from three-point range. He scored 50 points in two games against Beloit this season and has averaged 25 points in his last five appearances against the Buccaneers.
Lake Forest had three other players reach double figures in points. Junior forward Frank Siegien shot 6-for-9 from the field in a 13-point performance while junior wing Johnny Roeser and sophomore guard Rocco Ronzio added 11 and 10, respectively. Roeser also grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year.
The Foresters shot 43.1 percent from the field while limiting Beloit to just 32.4 percent. The home team also had a 47-39 advantage in rebounds.
Trailing by a basket, Lake Forest scored the final nine points of the opening period and led 32-25 at halftime. Beloit closed to within three on multiple occasions early in the second half before a 14-4 run put the Foresters on top 57-44 with eight minutes to play. Siegien and sophomore forward Val Oplchenski each scored four points during the run and Ronzio finished it off with a traditional three-point play. The Buccaneers got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
The victory raised the Foresters' overall record to 8-13 and they are now 7-5 in Midwest Conference play. Beloit fell to 5-15 overall and 3-9 in the league.
Lake Forest will host Lawrence University Wednesday evening at 5:30.