The Forester men's basketball team needed five extra minutes but eventually posted a 77-76 overtime victory at Cornell College on Saturday.
Lake Forest came out of a timeout trailing 76-75 with 16.7 seconds on the overtime clock. The ball was inbounded to junior guard Zach Foster and he found sophomore guard Alex Knight in the lane. Knight's turnaround jumper put the visitors on top with 11.4 seconds left. The Rams' desperation three-point field goal attempt at the buzzer was no good and the Foresters escaped with the victory.
Regulation was a tale of two halves with Lake Forest leading 42-22 at the break before being outscored 45-25 in the next 20 minutes. Cornell forced overtime with a basket with just 5.5 seconds remaining.
Senior forward Frank Siegien scored the Foresters's first eight points of the afternoon and led the team with a season-high 22 points. Knight had six of the visitors' 10 points in overtime and 19 to go with a game-high six assists in the contest. Junior guard Rocco Ronzio was 4-for-5 on three-pointers, matched his career-high with 16 points, and established a new personal best with a game-high nine rebounds.
The Foresters shot 50.8 percent from the field and 6-for-13 from beyond the arc. They also limited the Rams to just 40 percent from the floor and the home team connected on just four of 30 long-range attempts. Lake Forest also had a 40-30 edge in rebounds but were outscored 20-11 at the line and committed 17 turnovers to the Rams' 9.
The victory was Lake Forest's second of the year against Cornell and improved the team's overall record to 6-8 and Midwest Conference mark to 3-2. The Rams fell to 4-10 overall and 2-3 in the league.
The Foresters will host Beloit College next Wednesday with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.