GALESBURG, Ill. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team had one of its best shooting games of the season and rolled to a 76-54 Midwest Conference win over Knox College on Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Vikings (6-10, 4-7 MWC) shot 55.1 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Freshman Jeremy Stephani scored a game-high 17 points off the bench for the Vikings. Stephani was 6-for-8 from the floor, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range.
Trace Sonnleitner added 14 points for Lawrence, and Mitch Willer added 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the floor. Guard Jamie Nikitas had a career-high eight assists to go with eight points and six rebounds for the Vikings.
Caylab Herrera came off the bench to pace Knox (4-12, 2-9) with 10 points.
Lawrence got off to a fast start, hitting seven of its first nine shots from the floor to build a 20-10 with 12:59 left in the opening half. The Vikings cooled off a bit after that but led 39-27 at the half.
The Vikings then opened the second half on a 19-6 run to stretch the lead to 58-33 with 11:29 remaining. Sonnleitner scored seven points in that stretch as the Vikings knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers.
Lawrence’s largest lead would be 26 points as every Viking got to play in the second half. Twelve of Lawrence’s 14 players scored at least two points.