The Lake Forest College men's basketball team won 71-68 at Ripon College on Saturday to even its Midwest Conference record at 1-1. Senior guard James Stack came off the Forester bench to score a game-high 20 points in the contest.
While Stack led all players in scoring, the final margin on the scoreboard was provided by freshman guard Josh Irving, who broke a 68-68 tie with a three-pointer from the top of the key with just 3.5 seconds on the clock. After a pair of free throws by Forester junior forward Tyrone Staggers with 48 seconds remaining, the Red Hawks knocked down a game-tying three-pointer with 36.4 seconds left. Lake Forest held for the last shot, which turned out to be Irving's game-winner.
Irving played just nine minutes in the game and scored seven points on 2-for-2 shooting from the field and line.
Stack netted his 20 points in just 24 minutes. He made three of six field goal attempts, including two of four from three-point range, and knocked down a dozen free throws in 14 tries. His 12 made free throws are the most by a Forester in at least 13 years. Lake Forest shot 22-for-24 from the line in the game, posting their highest free throw percentage (.917) since missing just once in 13 attempts (.923) at Ripon in January of 2009.
Junior forward Brian Madson was the only Forester starter to score in double figures. He netted 14 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and the third of his career.
Lake Forest shot 47.8 percent from the floor on the afternoon while the home team connected on just 40 percent of its field goal attempts. The Foresters had a 35-24 edge in rebounds but committed 13 of the game's 20 turnovers.
Neither team led by more than five points during a first half that included seven lead changes, the last during a 9-0 Red Hawk run mid-way through the period. A pair of free throws by Stack with eight seconds left tied the score at 33 going into halftime.
Ripon outscored the Foresters 21-4 in the first eight minutes of the second half, setting up a dramatic comeback. Stack shot 9-for-10 from the free throw line during a five-minute span as the visitors quickly erased the deficit. Lake Forest took a one-point lead on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Torrey Davis with 2:28 remaining and again on a layup by Madson with 1:51 to play. A stop by the Forester defense set up the last-minute free throws by Staggers and winning three-pointer by Irving.
Lake Forest is now 2-3 overall on the season. Ripon fell to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the league.
The Foresters will travel to St. Norbert College next Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.