The Forester men's basketball team was defeated 69-60 at Beloit College Wednesday evening. Lake Forest senior guard James Stack tied a career-high with six three-pointers and finished with a team-high 20 points.
Stack had just three points at halftime before knocking down five of seven attempts from beyond the arc and scoring 17 points in the final 20 minutes. He now has 97 three-pointers in his career.
Senior guard Jordan Gipson chipped in with 13 points and freshman forward Jim Schick 10 for the visitors. Gipson led the squad with four assists and junior forward Brian Madson with five rebounds.
Beloit shot 53.3 percent from the field in the game while the Foresters connected on just 40 percent of their field goal attempts. The Buccaneers also had a significant edge from the foul line, where they made 17 of 20 attempts while the visitors were just 4-for-6. The home team had a 33-27 advantage in rebounds while Lake Forest committed three fewer turnovers (11-8).
The Buccaneers stormed out to a 20-2 lead but a 13-0 Forester run closed the gap. Lake Forest pulled to within just two points twice late in the first half, which ended the the home team ahead 30-26.
Madson knocked down a three-pointer on the first possession of the second half to cut the deficit to a single point but the Foresters would get no closer. Beloit extended the lead to double figures on a pair of free throws with 14:07 remaining and the margin grew to 17 points (56-39) with eight-and-a-half minutes left. Lake Forest pulled to within nine points on a three-pointer by Stack with 1:42 to play but the home team made nine of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to secure the victory.
Lake Forest fell to 6-13 overall and 5-9 in Midwest Conference play while the Buccaneers raised their overall record to 8-10 and league mark to 6-7.
The Foresters will be back out on the road on Saturday at Knox College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.