The Forester men's basketball team erased a 12-point deficit to prevail 63-60 at Knox College on Saturday.
Knox was ahead 32-30 with two minutes remaining in the opening period and took a 32-24 lead into the locker room at halftime. Lake Forest battled back in the second half and took the lead for the first time in the game on a three-pointer by freshman wing Ethan Augusto with 13 minutes to play. It was part of a 12-0 run that eventually turned a six-point deficit into a lead of the same size.
The Prairie Fire, however, came back and regained the lead on a free throw with 3:32 on the clock.
The lead changed hands three more times in the next minute-and-a-half and Knox eventually tied the score at 60 on a free throw with 29 seconds to play.
The winning basket for the Foresters came from sophomore guard Zach Foster on his only shot of the contest. He banked in a three-pointer from just left of the top of the key with 4.5 seconds remaining.
Junior forward Frank Siegien led the visitors with 18 points while junior wing Johnny Roeser celebrated his return from injury with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. It was his sixth double-double of the season.
Lake Forest senior guard Sean Espinosa also reached double figures with 11 points and freshman guard Alex Knight added nine.
The Foresters shot 44 percent from the field while Knox was at 51 percent. The main statistical edge for Lake Forest came on the boards, where the visitors finished with 32 rebounds while the Prairie Fire had just 19.
The victory raised the Foresters' overall record to 6-11 and they are now 5-3 in Midwest Conference play. Knox fell to 5-9 overall and 1-5 in the league.
Lake Forest will be back in action Sunday afternoon at 3:00 when the team hosts Cornell College in a game originally scheduled for January 8 but postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.
