GALESBURG, Ill. — Ben Peterson scored a career-high 29 points Saturday to lead the Lawrence University men’s basketball team to a 90-65 Midwest Conference rout of Knox College at Memorial Gymnasium.
Peterson, whose previous career high was 14 points earlier this season against UW-Stevens Point, hit 9-of-13 shots from the floor and went 4-of-5 from the foul line. Peterson was 7-for-10 on 3-pointers, and the Vikings finished 13-for-28 from beyond the arc. He also posted his first career double-double as he matched his career high with 10 rebounds.
Mitch Willer added 17 points and six rebounds for the Vikings (2-2, 2-0 MWC), and Jeremy Stephani had 11 points. Freshman guard Quinn Fisher handed out 10 assists to go with nine points for Lawrence.
Robert Suntken and Deandre Weathersby scored 15 points apiece to pace Knox (0-5, 0-2).
Lawrence jumped on Knox from the opening tip as the Vikings led 12-2 less than six minutes into the game. The Vikings later went on a 15-3 run, capped by a Peterson 3-pointer, to stretch the lead to 27-7 9:29 left in the opening half.
Lawrence led by as many as 26 points in the first half and was up 52-26 at the break.
The Vikings continued to stretch the lead and led by as 31 seven minutes into the second half. Lawrence expanded its advantage to as many as 36 points on Chase Kruger’s jumper in the final three minutes.