The Lake Forest College men's basketball team dropped a 130-116 decision at Grinnell College on Saturday. Sophomore guard Andrew Toth led the Foresters with a career-high 23 points.
Toth shot 10-for-13 from the floor and also matched his career-high with six rebounds.
Four other Foresters scored in double figures, including sophomore center Matt McPherson, who began the day with 15 points in his career before pouring in 16 in the contest. He also set a career-high with eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Jim Schick matched McPherson's 16 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double. He also tied for team-high honors with four assists. Junior forward Torrey Davis added 15 points and freshman guard Danny Nikitas 11.
Turnovers proved to be the Foresters' demise, as their 28 miscues led to 42 Pioneer points. Lake Forest also surrendered 28 three-pointers in 72 attempts. The visitors shot 58.9 percent from the field and out-rebounded the home team 59-35.
Lake Forest led just twice in the contest, once after Toth scored the game's first two points and again after a Toth layup made the score 23-22 with 11:15 remaining in the first half. Grinnell scored 15 of the next 19 points to take a double-digit lead and later went on a 23-5 run to take a 78-50 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Foresters were able to cut that 28-point deficit in half with 6:13 remaining in the contest but would get no closer. The Pioneers extended its lead back into the 20s before the visitors scored the final seven points of the game.
Lake Forest is now 1-3 overall and 1-2 in Midwest Conference play this season. Grinnell improved to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the league.
The Foresters will continue conference play against visiting Carroll University Wednesday night at 7:30.
