The Lawrence University men’s basketball team had four players score in double figures and shot better than 50 percent from the floor en route to a 79-70 Midwest Conference victory over Cornell College on Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.
Chris Siebert led Lawrence (4-3, 3-2 MWC) with 18 points and a game-high seven assists. Conor Klusendorf played a superlative all-around game for the Vikings with 11 points, six rebounds, six steals, two assists and a block.
Max Burgess and Trace Sonnleitner both went 3-for-5 from 3-point range and had 11 points apiece for Lawrence.
Lawrence shot 54.4 percent from the floor (31-57), and the Vikings were 13 of 28 from 3-point range (46.4 percent).
Joey Guth came off the bench to score a game-high 26 points for Cornell (2-4, 1-2). Reggie Greenwood added 14 points and Nick Bobb had 10 points for the Rams.
After Cornell led by as many as seven points early, Lawrence started to take control of the game late in the first half. The Vikings led 26-25 when they went on an 8-0 run to push the lead to 34-25 with 5:26 left. Burgess and Troy Miller both hit 3-pointers during that stretch and Klusendorf finished the run with a layup.
The Vikings led 40-34 at the half and opened the second half with seven consecutive points. Siebert drained a 3-pointer on the first possession of the half, and Tyler Mazur and Brian Gryszkiewicz both added layups to give Lawrence a 47-34 lead.
Lawrence kept the Rams at arm’s length for the rest of the game. The Vikings led by as many as 17 points, and Cornell never got closer than nine points.
The Rams trimmed the margin to 76-67 with 2:15 left on Guth’s 3-pointer, but Klusendorf answered with a three-point play to push the lead back to 79-67 and seal the victory.
Lawrence returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Elmhurst College for a nonconference game.