Junior forward Orlando Brown helped keep the home team in the game but the Lake Forest College men's basketball team was defeated 59-52 by St. Norbert College at home Wednesday night.
Brown's two-handed dunk in the first half excited the crowd and started a six-point run that gave the Foresters an 8-7 advantage mid-way through the first half. The lead changed hands five more times in the next three-and-a-half minutes and the score was tied at 18, 20, and 22 before a basket by the visitors gave them a 24-22 edge at halftime.
One of four three-pointers in the contest by Lake Forest junior guard Eric Porter cut the Green Knights' lead to one point early in the second half but the Foresters would get no closer. St. Norbert scored the next 12 points before the home team responded with 11 in a row, the last three on a steal, layup, and free throw by Porter that made it a two-point game with 8:51 remaining. St. Norbert scored the next four points and led by at least three the rest of the way.
Porter led Lake Forest with 15 points while Brown and senior forward Jim Schick also reached double figures with 12 and 11, respectively. Sophomore guard Jordan Moran finished with eight points and led all players in the contest and matched his career high with 12 rebounds.
The Foresters finished with a slight 28-27 edge in rebounds but made just 40 percent of field goal attempts while St. Norbert shot 53.5 percent from the floor. Porter was 4-for-9 from three-point range while the rest of the team was 0-for-10 and the green Knights 6-for-13. Both teams took care of the ball fairly weel, combining to commit just 17 turnovers.
Lake Forest is now 12-8 overall this season and 10-5 in Midwest Conference play. St. Norbert, the ninth-ranked team in the nation, improved to 17-3 overall and 14-1 in the league.
The Foresters will host Cornell College Saturday at 5:00 p.m.