WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team nearly came all the way back from a 20-point deficit before falling 71-63 to Grand View University in a nonconference game on Wednesday at Just A Game Field House.
Lawrence (4-4), which trailed 44-24 late in the first half, cut the lead to two points on two occasions in the second half before Grand View (5-5) pulled away.
Jeremy Stephani came off the bench to lead Lawrence with 18 points. A freshman guard, Stephani hit 6-of-9 shots from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Trace Sonnleitner added 12 points for the Vikings, and Jamie Nikitas had a game-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points and four assists.
Jjuan Hadnot led Grand View with 16 points, including 14 in the first half. Grand View big men Alex Welsch and Nick Lyon had 12 points apiece on a combined 12-for-15 shooting from the floor.
Grand View was red-hot in the first half, connecting on 61.8 percent of its shots from the floor. Grand View led by double digits at 14-3 just 5:07 into the contest. Grand View built the lead to 44-24 with 3:04 left in the opening half.
Lawrence scored eight of the half’s final 10 points, getting 3-pointers from Stephani and Sonnleitner and a layup from Connor Weas, to cut the lead to 46-34 at the half.
Lawrence trailed 58-45 in the second half, but the Vikings went on a 13-2 run, capped by Nikitas’ layup, to cut the lead to 60-58 with 6:20 left.
Nathan Washington answered with a 3-pointer for Grand View, but the Vikings got the margin back to 65-63 on Weas’ 3-pointer with 3:09 remaining.
Grand View answered with a layup from Welsch and a 3-pointer from Rodney Williams, his only points of the second half, to stretch the lead to 70-63 and seal the win.
Lawrence takes on Viterbo University on Thursday as part of the Wisconsin Dells Classic.