Junior guard Mike Rueffer scored a career-high 17 points and added four rebounds, three assists, and three steals as the Lake Forest College men's basketball team rolled to an 87-72 victory at Illinois College on Saturday.
Rueffer shot 5-for-7 from the three-point range and made both of his free throw attempts. He had set his previous career-high of 14 points on December 19 at Coe College.
Sophomore guard Eric Porter led Lake Forest with 19 points and he also recorded a game-high four steals. Junior guard Andrew Toth finished with a season-high 16 points while junior forward Jim Schick had 15 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Schick also led all players in the game with six assists. Freshman forward Danny Sotos chipped in with 11 points and sophomore forward Orlando Brown had nine.
The Foresters shot nearly 55 percent from the field in the contest while limiting the Blueboys to just 42 percent. The visitors also knocked down nine of 22 three-point field goal attempts and 10 of 12 shots from the free throw line. Lake Forest out-rebounded Illinois College 36-29 and committed just 11 turnovers while forcing 14.
Porter scored nine points during a 19-0 Forester run which gave the visitors a 27-10 lead. The margin was 17 points again (46-29) at halftime.
Illinois College connected on a three-pointer to open the second half scoring but the Foresters eventually extended their lead to as many as 28 points (77-49) with eight minutes to play. The Blueboys outscored their guests 23-8 over the next six-and-a-half minutes but were held scoreless in the game's final 100 seconds.
Lake Forest improved to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in Midwest Conference play this season. Illinois College is now 4-9 overall and 1-7 in the league.
The Foresters will play their next three games at home, beginning with a Tuesday evening match-up against Ripon College. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
