WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half, but Carroll University hung on for an 84-78 Midwest Conference victory on Tuesday at Van Male Fieldhouse.
The Vikings trailed by 15 points early in the second half, but Lawrence trimmed the margin to one before Carroll recovered. The Pioneers built the lead back to double digits and then had to hold on in the final minutes.
Trace Sonnleitner paced Lawrence (7-9, 5-6 MWC) and all scorers with a career-high 21 points. The sophomore forward went 7-for-9 from the floor, including 5-for-5 from 3-point range.
Chris Siebert added 19 points for the Vikings, and Ryan DePouw had 16 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Kyle Keranen led Carroll (10-7, 7-5) with 18 points.
Carroll, which led by 10 at the half, pushed the lead to 49-34 with 15:54 remaining. Lawrence then scored the game’s next 13 points, including the final seven from Siebert, to trim the lead to 49-47 with 11:03 remaining.
After an Alec Molter layup stopped the run for Carroll, Sonnleitner hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 51-50. Carroll led 54-52 when the Pioneers scored nine consecutive points to push the lead to 63-52.
Lawrence again battled back and cut the lead to 80-76 on a Jamie Nikitas layup with 1:17 left. Nikitas then stole the ball on the ensuing possession but his layup was blocked at the other end.
Keranen then hit four consecutive free throws in the final 29 seconds to seal the victory.