APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University’s Ben Peterson led a shooting barrage Saturday as the Vikings rolled to a 101-67 Midwest Conference men’s basketball victory over Beloit College at Alexander Gymnasium.
Peterson poured in a game-high 25 points as he hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor, including 7-of-8 from 3-point range. Lawrence shot 66.1 percent from the floor, going 41-for-62, including 13-for-22 (59.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
Jeremy Stephani added 19 points for the Vikings (8-10, 8-6 MWC), and Evan McLaughlin turned in a stellar all-around game. McLaughlin scored 11 points, pulled down a game-high seven rebounds, handed out a career-high seven assists and picked up three steals.
Sam Noyce paced Beloit (5-14, 3-11) with 16 points off the bench, and Tristan Shoup added 12 points.
Lawrence game out of the chute firing and built a 15-point lead eight minutes into the game. The Vikings missed their first two 3-pointers but made four of the next five, two by Stephani and two by Peterson, to lead 21-6.
The Viking pushed the lead to 20 at 34-14 on a 3-pointer by Connor Weas, but Beloit did manage to trim the margin to 47-32 with 38 seconds left in the opening half. Peterson then buried another triple, got fouled and converted the four-point play. Lawrence’s Quinn Fisher followed with a driving layup at the buzzer to put Lawrence up 53-32 at the half.
Lawrence went 8-for-13 from beyond the arc in the opening half.
The Vikings quashed any hopes of a Beloit comeback early in the second half. The Bucs had trimmed the lead to 59-38, but Lawrence went on a 13-4 run. A Peterson 3-pointer and four consecutive points from Stephani capped the outburst and gave Lawrence a 72-42 lead with 12:42 left.
Beloit never got closer than 28 the rest of the way, and Lawrence would lead by as many as 36.