The Forester men's basketball team dropped a 68-62 decision to visiting Monmouth College Wednesday night.
The game included a long run by each team. Lake Forest's was 20 consecutive points during a seven-minute span in the first half that turned a 10-point deficit into a lead of the same size. The halftime score was 38-31 in favor of the home team.
Monmouth's run also lasted about nine minutes or so and the visitors outscored Lake Forest 17-1 during that span. The Fighting Scots' lead was 11 points by the end of the run and reached as many as 13 before the Foresters began to come back. Sophomore guard Alex Knight scored 10 points during a 12-3 run that made the score 64-60 with 29.7 seconds to play. Knight scored to make it a four-point game again with 20.2 seconds on the clock but Lake Forest was unable to complete the comeback.
Knight led all players in the game with a career-high 31 points. He shot 11-for-17 from the field, made eight of nine free throws, and added a game-high four assists on the night. Fellow sophomore guard Elijah Bull was next on the team with nine points and junior guard Rocco Ronzio led the squad with six rebounds.
The Foresters, who lead the Midwest Conference in shooting percentage, connected on just 36.7 percent of their field goal attempts on Wednesday and was out-rebounded 44-29. Lake Forest did take better care of the ball than the Scots, committing just 10 turnovers and matching the seventh-highest single-game steal total in team history with 13.
The loss dropped the Foresters' overall record to 8-11 and evened their MWC mark at 5-5. Monmouth improved to 11-8 overall and 7-3 in the league.
Lake Forest will continue conference play against visiting Lawrence University on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.