The Lake Forest College men's basketball team took on a highly-ranked opponent Tuesday night, falling 95-70 at home to #6 Wheaton College.
The Foresters fell behind by 15 points late in the opening period before a basket by senior guard Sean Espinosa at the buzzer made the halftime score 45-32. The home team kept the game relatively close until a 10-0 run gave the Thunder a 75-56 lead at the midpoint of the second half. Lake Forest got no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
Espinosa finished with 26 points, the most by a Forester so far this season. He shot 11-for-19 from the field and added five assists, leaving him just one shy of 400 for his career.
Sophomore forward Val Oplchenski was next on the team with a dozen points but played just 17 minutes due to foul trouble. He shot 6-for-7 from the field, raising his field goal percentage on the season to .680. Junior forward Johnny Roeser added 11 points and led the home team with six rebounds. Freshman guard Alex Knight matched Espinosa with five assists.
Lake Forest shot a season-high 47.8 percent from the field but Wheaton finished the night at a blistering 59.4 percent. The Thunder outscored the Foresters 24-12 on three-pointers and 11-2 from the foul line while forcing 13 turnovers and committing just seven.
The loss is the Foresters' fifth in as many games so far this season while Wheaton is now 2-0.
Lake Forest will begin Midwest Conference play at Grinnell College Saturday afternoon at 3:00.