The Forester men's basketball team eeked out a 58-57 win over visiting Ripon College Friday night. The Red Hawks came back to tie the score late but Lake Forest sophomore guard Jeff Beck's free throw with 0.6 seconds left in the game gave the home team the win.
Beck finished the game with 14 points, three assists, and a pair of steals.
Forester junior guard Chris Roets led all players in the game with 20 points. He shot 6-for-11 from three-point range, falling one shy of the program's single-game record for three-pointers made.
The only other Lake Forest player to score in double figures was junior forward Drew Grennell, who finished with an efficient 10 points after shooting 3-for-4 from the field, 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. He also tied with fellow junior forward Nate Bateman for team-high honors with seven rebounds.
The Foresters shot 42.6 percent from the field, 11-for-26 (42.3%) on three-pointers, and 7-for-14 from the free throw line. They held Ripon to just 36.8 percent shooting from the floor, well below their season mark of 49.7 percent. The Red Hawks also came into the game averaging more than 82 points per contest, 25 more than they managed on Friday. The visitors out-rebounded Lake Forest 38-29 and the Foresters committed four more turnovers (15-11) than their guests.
Lake Forest scored the game's first 10 points and never trailed on the night. Ripon quickly came back to tie the score at 12 but the home team pulled away again and led by as many as 10 again in the period. The first half ended with the home team ahead 35-26.
Roets started the second half with a three-pointer to give the Foresters a 12-point advantage, their largest lead of the game. The Red Hawks started a 13-3 run a few minutes later to tied the score at 47 with 7:33 remaining. Grennell then hit a three-pointer to put the Foresters back on top and he added four rebounds and a pair of free throws in the next four minutes to preserve the lead. Ripon continued to come back, however, and eventually tied the score on a jumper with 17.8 seconds on the clock. Beck was then fouled just inside the free throw line with 0.6 seconds to play. He made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, setting up a desperate and unsuccessful heave by Ripon at the buzzer.
The Foresters evened their overall record at 6-6 and raised their Midwest Conference mark to 4-3. Ripon fell to 7-5 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Lake Forest will host Beloit College tomorrow evening at 5:00.