LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Tyler Crisman scored 23 points to lead the Lawrence University men’s basketball team to a 49-45 Midwest Conference victory over Lake Forest College on Friday night.
The Vikings (10-9, 9-5 MWC) saw a big first-half lead evaporate, but Lake Forest missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final minute.
Travis Clark posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Lake Forest (8-10, 6-7). Lawrence’s Jon Mays matched Clark with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Lawrence jumped out to a big early lead thanks to an 11-0 run, which was capped by Erik Borresen’s 3-pointer. That gave the Vikings a 14-2 edge with 13:50 left in the first half.
Lawrence would build that lead to as many as 19 points in the first half and led 29-12 at the half. Lawrence shot a respectable 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) in the first half against Lake Forest’s tough defense.
The Vikings went stone cold after the break and shot 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) from the floor in the final 20 minutes, and that allowed the Foresters to rally.
Lake Forest went on a 15-1 run to open the second half and trimmed Lawrence’s lead to 30-27 with 15:25 left. Lawrence regrouped after Mays hit a jumper and Crisman buried a 3-pointer to push the lead back to eight points.
Lake Forest managed to cut the lead to two points on two occasions, but the Vikings hung on. Crisman made a pair of free throws with 2:55 left to put the Vikings up 48-44.
A free throw from Clark cut the lead to 48-45 with 1:24 left, and an offensive foul on Crisman gave Lake Forest the ball back with 56 seconds left.
Lake Forest then missed a 3-pointer and another jumper before Borresen grabbed the rebound. Chris Siebert was fouled with 17 seconds left and made one free throw to seal the victory.
Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Illinois College.