Freshman forward Danny Sotos led Lake Forest with 18 points and eight rebounds but the Forester men's basketball team was defeated 63-48 at St. Norbert College Friday night in the semifinals of the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament.
Sotos shot 7-for-14 from the field and knocked down four of eight attempts from three-point range on the night. Forester junior forward Jim Schick and sophomore forward Orlando Brown added 10 points apiece and Schick also finished with seven rebounds and a game-high five assists.
Lake Forest shot just 33.3 percent from the floor, 6-for-28 from beyond the arc, and 6-for-10 from the free throw line. The Green Knights connected on 47.1 percent of field goal attempts and on 13 of 16 foul shots. The Foresters were out-rebounded 34-31 and committed a dozen turnovers while forcing 10.
St. Norbert scored the game's first seven points and led by as many as 11 in the first half. Sotos scored five points during a 10-2 Forester run that closed the gap to three and later knocked down a three-pointer to give the visitors a 27-26 lead. Schick scored Lake Forest's last four points of the opening period, which ended with the Foresters leading 31-30.
Lake Forest trailed 43-41 after a Brown free throw with 10:47 to play but was outscored 10-0 over the next five minutes. The Green Knights maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
The Foresters' 2015-16 season ends with an overall record of 12-11. St. Norbert, ranked eighth in the nation by D3hoops.com, will put its 22-2 mark on the line against Carroll University in the MWC Tournament final Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Lake Forest will lose just one player, guard Chase Janer, to graduation in May.