APPLETON, Wis. — The Lake Forest College men’s basketball team took the lead midway through the second half Wednesday and then held off a late charge by Lawrence University to post a 77-69 Midwest Conference victory at Alexander Gymnasium.
Freshman Danny Sotos scored a game-high 29 points for Lake Forest (1-2, 1-0 MWC) and hit 10-of-15 shots from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Jim Schick added a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Foresters.
Jamie Nikitas led Lawrence (1-3, 1-1) with 28 points, and he picked up five rebounds, five assists and six steals.
The Vikings led 45-40 after Mitch Willer’s free throw with 14:10 remaining when the Foresters surged ahead. Lake Forest went on a 13-1 run, capped by Sotos’ layup with 9:14 left, to take a 53-46 lead.
Lawrence came right back as Evan McLaughlin scored five points as part of a 9-4 Lawrence burst to cut the lead to 57-55. The Foresters then scored 10 of the game’s next 12 points to push the advantage back to 67-57.
The Vikings battled back, getting a key 3-pointer from Jeremy Stephani, and trimmed the margin to 72-69 on Nikitas’ layup with 49 seconds left. The Foresters then made 5-of-7 free throws in the final 31 seconds to seal the win.
Ben Peterson scored a career-high 10 points for Lawrence, and Pete Winslow added nine points.