BELOIT, Wis. — All five starters scored in double figures, and the Lawrence University men’s basketball team rolled to a 97-83 Midwest Conference victory over Beloit College on Wednesday at Flood Arena.
Lawrence (10-10, 8-7 MWC) shot a sizzling 60.7 percent from the floor, including 51.9 percent from beyond the 3-point line. The Vikings also went 15-for-17 (88.2 percent) from the foul line.
Chris Siebert poured in 28 points to pace the Vikings, and Ryan DePouw added 21. Forward Chase Nelson added 12 points, and guards Brian Gryszkiewicz and Jamie Nikitas had 10 points apiece. Gryszkiewicz also handed out a career-high eight assists. Trace Sonnleiter came off the bench to chip in with 10 points for the Vikings.
Steve McAfee and James Lazarcik both had double-doubles for Beloit (8-12, 6-9). McAfee had 28 points and 10 rebounds, and Lazarcik had 21 points and 15 rebounds.
The game was tight until the latter stages of the first half. Lawrence led 35-32 and then outscored the Bucs 23-11 over the final 6:18 of the opening half. Lawrence went 9-for-11 from the floor during that stretch, and Siebert scored 12 points during the run.
The Vikings led 58-43 at the half, and Lawrence never let Beloit back into the game. DePouw scored nine points in the opening five minutes of the second half as Lawrence stretched the lead to 21 at 73-52.
Beloit never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way as Lawrence has won two straight and three of its last four.