The Forester men's basketball team closed to within a point after trailing by 17 but eventually fell 72-68 at Illinois College on Saturday.
Lake Forest senior guard Sean Espinosa and junior forward Frank Siegien combined to shoot 20-for-27 from the field and score 44 points in the contest. Espinosa's 24 points and six assists led all players in the game while Siegien added seven rebounds during a 20-point performance.
Junior wing Johnny Roeser led the visitors with 11 rebounds but Lake Forest trailed Illinois College 42-31 in that category as a team. The Foresters had the higher shooting percentage, connecting on 48.3 percent of their attempts while the Blueboys were at 46 percent. The home team, however, outscored the Foresters 27-15 on three-pointers.
Illinois College scored the final 15 points of the opening period and led 46-29 at halftime.
Lake Forest opened the second half with seven straight points but the Blueboys responded with seven in a row to restore their 17-point advantage. After a basket by both teams, the Foresters outscored the home team 20-4 over the next six minutes and trailed by just one at 59-58 with less than seven minutes to play. Illinois College scored the next five points, however and led by at least three the rest of the way.
The loss dropped the Foresters' overall record to 9-14 and Midwest Conference mark to 8-6. Illinois College improved to 9-11 overall and 7-5 in the league.
Lake Forest will begin the final week of the regular season with a road game at Ripon College Tuesday evening at 5:30.