Junior guard Sam Husting made five three-pointers and matched his career-high with 17 points Wednesday night in an 80-61 victory at Monmouth College.
Lake Forest trailed by five early in the contest when Husting started a 16-7 Forester run with his first three-pointer of the night. He connected two more times from beyond the arc in the opening half and the visitors led 45-31 after 20 minutes of play.
The Fighting Scots closed to within five at 52-47 with 13 minutes to play but the Foresters responded with eight straight points. The home team pulled back to within six at 60-54 prior to a 20-2 Lake Forest run that put the game out of reach. Eleven of the 20 points were scored by sophomore guard Sean Espinosa, who shot 10-for-15 from the field and led all players with 23 points on the night.
Espinosa shot 10-for-15 from the field, made three of six attempts from beyond the arc, and added six rebounds and four assists. He and Husting were joined in double figures by senior forward Danny Sotos, freshman guard Tashon Brown, and senior guard Jordan Moran, who each finished with 10. Sotos also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Moran was 5-for-7 from the field in his first appearance in nearly a month. It was the third time this season Lake Forest had five players with at least 10 points.
The Foresters' .582 shooting percentage on the night was their best mark in exactly 11 months and the visitors also made more than they missed from three-point range, knocking down 12 of 23 attempts. Monmouth was just 21-for-51 from the floor and 2-for-16 on three-pointers. Lake Forest also had a significant edge in rebounds, grabbing 39 to the Scots' 21.
The victory improved the Foresters overall record on the season to 5-3 and evened their Midwest Conference mark at 2-2. Monmouth fell to 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Lake Forest's next game will be played at Grace Christian University in Wyoming, Michigan, next Friday at 7:00 p.m. (ET).
