A basket by junior wing Johnny Roeser with 0.5 seconds on the clock gave the Lake Forest College men's basketball team a 79-77 triumph over visiting Lawrence University on Wednesday.
Coming out of a timeout with the score tied and 6.2 seconds on the clock, the inbounds pass went to Roeser beyond the top of the key and he faked a handoff to senior guard Sean Espinosa, who scored a game-high 26 points on the evening. With the defense drawn toward Espinosa, Roeser drove but was cut off before he reached the basket. He stopped and hit a fadeaway jumper to put the home team on top.
After another timeout, the Vikings' long pass to the offensive end of the court was tipped awayand the Foresters celebrated a crucial victory as they pursue a spot in the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament.
The teams played a thrilling second half, beginning with four lead changes in the first four minutes. The game was tied at 46 with 12:50 remaining when the Vikings knocked down three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to take a nine-point lead, the largest for either team in the contest.
An 8-2 run by the Foresters made it a three-point game with 9:27 left and the margin alternated between three and five points for the next four-and-a-half minutes. A pair of free throws by sophomore forward Val Oplchenski pulled the Foresters to within a point and a three-pointer by Espinosa put them on top with four minutes to play. A pair of Espinosa free throws at the 2:38 mark capped off an 11-0 run and increased the lead to six points, Lake Forest's largest of the game.
It was Lawrence's turn to come back, however, and the Vikings eventually tied the game on a pair of free throws with 8.5 seconds left, setting up Roeser's heroics.
Roeser scored just six points in the contest but the leading rebounder in the MWC led all players with a dozen boards. In addition to his 26 points, Espinosa grabbed nine rebounds, dished out a game-high five assists, and added four steals. Freshman guard Alex Knight shot 5-for-7 from the field and scored a season-high 14 points while Oplchenski was 4-for-5 and finished with 11.
Lake Forest shot 43.9 percent from the field while Lawrence was at an even 50 percent. Both teams made eight three-pointers and the Foresters outscored their guests 13-9 at the line and out-rebounded them by a commanding 42-28 margin.
The victory raised the Foresters' overall record to 9-13 and they are now 8-5 in conference play and alone in fourth place in the MWC standings. Lawrence fell to 9-12 overall and 6-6 in the league.
Lake Forest will travel to Illinois College on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off.