BELOIT, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team led for the final 38 minutes Saturday, but the Vikings had to hold off Beloit College in a nail-biting 62-58 Midwest Conference victory at Flood Arena.
Lawrence never led by more than eight points and saw its lead cut to one in the final minute. The Vikings went 8-for-8 from the foul line in the final 48 seconds to secure the victory.
Rookie guard Quinn Fisher came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points for the Vikings (7-7, 7-3 MWC). Lawrence’s Jeremy Stephani hit a trio of 3-pointers on his way to 17 points, and he grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Carlton Henning posted a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds to pace Beloit (4-11, 2-8).
Beloit scored the first basket of the game, and Stephani gave Lawrence the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 18:09 left in the opening half. Lawrence led by as many as eight points three times in the first half and settled for a 37-31 lead at the break.
Lawrence led 47-40 on Fisher’s 3-pointer with 11:09 remaining, but Beloit chipped away at the advantage. The Bucs went on an 8-2 run to trim the margin to 49-48, but Pete Winslow and Evan McLaughlin countered with jumpers for the Vikings to push the lead to 53-48.
The Vikings led 56-52 before Cody Risseeuw hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one with 30 seconds left.
The Bucs fouled Ben Peterson, who made both free throws with 23 seconds remaining for a 58-55 lead. Beloit’s Mike Gulve made one free throw with 10 seconds left to cut the lead to 58-56, and the Bucs then fouled Stephani.
Stephani made both free throws with eight seconds left to move the lead back to 60-56. After Mike Noyce’s layup with three seconds left cut the lead back to 60-58, the Bucs fouled Fisher, who made both free throws to finally seal the win.