Hot-shooting Vikings roll past Illinois College

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team shot 64.7 percent from the floor and rolled to an 88-64 Midwest Conference win over Illinois College on Monday at Alexander Gymnasium.

Lawrence (4-3, 3-1 MWC) made 33-of-51 shots from the floor and went 14-for-27 (51.9 percent) from 3-point range.

Chris Siebert led Lawrence and all scorers with 22 points. Siebert went 7-for-11 from the floor, including 6-for-8 from beyond the arc. Tyler Mazur added 16 points for the Vikings, Jamie Nikitas had 13 and Ryan DePouw chipped in with 12 points. Brian Gryszkiewicz handed out six assists and picked up five steals for the Vikings, and Chase Nelson had a team-high five rebounds.

Spencer Campbell came off the bench to lead Illinois College (3-3, 1-3) with 19 points, and Nathan Kohler added 17.

Lawrence jumped on the Blueboys early and the Vikings never took their foot off the gas. The Vikings hit their first five shots from the floor and led by double digits at 18-8 on Nikitas’ layup with 13:03 left in the first half.

The Vikings went on a 25-5 midway through the first half and led by 25 at 38-13 with seven minutes remaining in the opening half. The Vikings would lead by as many as 31 points in the first half and were up 53-24 at the break.

Illinois College never made a run at the Vikings in the second half and got no closer than 25 points after the break. Lawrence shot a sizzling 72.2 percent (13-18) from the floor in the second half and led by as many as 32 points.

The Vikings return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to face the College of Mount St. Vincent.

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