APPLETON, Wis. — It was a must-win game Saturday for the Lawrence University men’s basketball team, and the Vikings pulled out a gritty 68-65 Midwest Conference victory over Monmouth College at Alexander Gymnasium.
The Vikings held off the Scots with some critical defensive stops and contributions large and small from a multitude of players. Lawrence is tied with Lake Forest College for third place in the league standings with both teams one game ahead of Cornell College as all three fight for the remaining two MWC Tournament berths.
Jeremy Stephani and Ben Peterson paced Lawrence (9-11, 10-6 MWC) with 13 points apiece, and Stephani handed out a game-high six assists. Eric Weiss and Mitch Willer added 10 points apiece for the Vikings, and Willer grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
Lamont Mitchell led Monmouth (6-15, 6-10) with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Monmouth’s Justin Aluya added 20 points on the strength of going 16-for-22 from the foul line before fouling out.
Lawrence built a 13-point edge at 41-28 early in the second half, but the Scots chipped away and tied it at 53-53 with 6:15 remaining. It would remain tight the rest of the way, but Lawrence never gave up the lead.
The Vikings built the lead back to four as Connor Weas hit a 3-pointer and then drained two free throws for a 61-57 advantage. The Scots trimmed the margin to 62-60 on a pair of Mitchell free throws with 2:55 remaining.
Lawrence then got three consecutive defensive stops, including one when freshman Tyler Klug drew a key offensive foul against Aluya, who fouled out of the game with 1:51 left.
After Paul Engo made a free throw to trim the lead to 62-61 with 1:07 left, Weiss came up with a huge driving layup to give the Vikings a 64-61 lead with 54 seconds left.
A pair of Mitchell free throws cut Lawrence’s lead to 64-63, and Weiss was fouled with 28 seconds left. He made both free throws, but Mitchell answered with a layup for the Scots. Weas was then fouled with 14 seconds left and made both free throws for a 68-65 lead.
Mitchell missed a 3-pointer with six seconds left, but Jon Matthews tracked down the rebound for Monmouth. His off-balance 3-pointer also missed, and the Vikings grabbed the rebound as time expired.