The Forester men's basketball team hosted and defeated Lawrence University 69-59 on Saturday and climbed into fourth place in the Midwest Conference standings.
Sophomore guard Alex Knight led Lake Forest with 17 points, four assists, and a career-high 11 rebounds. It was his first career double-double.
A pair of freshmen were next on the team in scoring as forward Noah Deitch and guard Alex Forowycz finished with 14 points apiece. They combined to shoot 6-for-12 from three-point range and pull down 10 rebounds in the contest. Senior forward Frank Siegien also reached double figures with 13 points.
Lake Forest shot 43 percent from the field while Lawrence was at just 37 percent. The Foresters also outscored their guests from beyond the arc (24-18) and at the foul line (11-7) and out-rebounded them 41-37.
An 18-1 run in the first half gave the home team the lead for good and the scored was 34-21 at halftime. The margin grew to as many as 19 points early in the second half but the Vikings battled back and eventually closed back to within four with two minutes to play. The teams traded baskets for the next minute-and-a-half with Knight scoring once and Siegien twice. Knight knocked down four free throws and sophomore guard Elijah Bull two in the final 30.3 seconds to clinch what turned into a 10-point victory.
Both teams entered the game with an 8-11 overall record and 5-5 mark in the MWC.
The Foresters will travel to Beloit College next Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off.