The season finale was a narrow defeat for the Lake Forest College men's basketball team, which fell 61-58 to Aurora University at home Tuesday night.
The contest featured 11 ties and 14 lead changes and the teams were separated by no more than three points for all but 6 minutes and 43 seconds of game time, including the final 15:43.
Six different Foresters made baskets that either tied the game or gave the home team the lead in the second half. Freshman guard Andre Bennett, who finished with a game-high 16 points, tied the score at 33 on a layup with 15:23 left and his three-pointer a minute-and-a-half later put Lake Forest on top. He also tied the game on a basket with eight minutes to play and connect again with 3:32 on the clock to make the score 56-55 in favor of the Foresters.
Aurora, however, regained the lead 30 seconds later and remained ahead for the rest of the game.
Lake Forest junior forward Kurt Kozaritz shot 4-for-5 from the field and was next on the team with a season-high 10 points. Freshman forward Val Oplchenski made all four of his field goal attempts and was one of three Foresters with eight points on the night. His .649 shooting percentage during the shortened season ranks fifth in team history.
Forester sophomore wing Johnny Roeser and freshman wing Adam Weingard matched Oplchenski's eight points and led all players in the game with 10 rebounds and five assists, respectively. Meanwhile, freshman guard Khalil Glover-Dodson's four steals were the most by a Lake Forest player this year.
The home team shot 46.9 percent from the field Tuesday night while limiting the Spartans to just 34.2 percent. Lake Forest also had a 49-33 edge in rebounds but committed 28 turnovers, which led to Aurora attempting 23 more shots from the field than the Foresters.
While it was the final game of the season, there was no need to call it Lake Forest's Senior Night as every member of the team is eligible to return in 2021-22.
