Junior guard Eric Porter led the visitors with 14 points as the Lake Forest College men's basketball team evened its record on the season by posting a 76-71 victory Wednesday night at Monmouth College.
Porter connected from three-point range three times in less than three minutes early in the game and knocked down a fourth attempt from beyond the arc with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining in the opening period. He was one of five Foresters to score during a 15-0 run that gave the visitors a 32-15 advantage. The lead was 17 again before Monmouth closed out the half with a three-pointer to make the score 43-29.
Lake Forest extended its lead to 16 points four times in the second half, the last at 62-46 with less than seven minutes remaining. The margin was 12 with two minutes to play. The Fighting Scots scored 15 points in the final 1:45 but got no closer than three as Forester sophomore forward Danny Sotos, senior guard Mike Rueffer, junior forward Orlando Brown, and Porter each made a pair of free throws. Porter's came with just 6.2 seconds on the clock and accounted for the final score.
Sotos and sophomore guard Jordan Moran were next on the team with 12 points apiece. Moran reached that number in just 13 minutes of play and Sotos added six rebounds and three assists to his stat line. Brown also finished in double figures with 11 points and senior forward Jim Schick added nine to go with his team-high seven rebounds. Rueffer led all players in the game with six assists.
The Foresters made exactly half of their field goal attempts and shot 6-for-17 from three-point range and 16-for-22 from the free throw line. The Scots connected on 43.4 percent of their shots from the field, seven of 19 three-point tries, and 18 of 22 foul shots. The home team had a 34-29 edge in rebounds but committed a dozen turnovers to Lake Forest's eight.
Lake Forest is now 5-5 overall on the season and 3-2 in Midwest Conference play. Monmouth fell to 2-8 overall and 2-3 in the league.
The Foresters will continue conference play Saturday afternoon against visiting Ripon College. The contest is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
