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The Lawrence University men’s basketball team heads to rival Ripon College on Tuesday for a battle of the second-place teams in the Midwest Conference.
Both teams enter the game tied with 8-4 league records. Lawrence is coming off an 85-65 victory over Carroll University this past Saturday.
Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Storzer Center.
KENOSHA, Wis. – Peter Brengel and Hannah Gabriel both won individual titles for the Lawrence University swim team at Saturday’s Wisconsin Private College Championships at Carthage College.
The Lawrence men and women both finished second in the team standings. Carthage claimed both team titles.
Brengel won the 100-yard backtroke in 54.53 seconds and grabbed second in the 200 backstroke in 1:58.08.
Gabriel took the title in the 1,650 freestyle in a time of 19:01.53. She also grabbed second in the 500 freestyle in 5:28.53 and took third in the 200 freestyle in 2:03.34.
Jon Mays poured in a career-high 38 points, and the Lawrence University men’s basketball team rolled to an 85-65 Midwest Conference victory over Carroll University at Alexander Gymnasium on Saturday.
Mays went 12-for-16 from the floor, including 5-for-6 from 3-point range, to pace the Vikings (9-8, 8-4 MWC). Mays also had eight rebounds and no turnovers in 37 minutes. Mays topped his career high of 27 points, which he set at Monmouth College on Jan. 15.
Tyler Crisman added 13 points for the Vikings, and Chris Siebert had 10 points and a game-high eight assists. Erik Borresen pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to go with nine points.
Kevin Hurd paced Carroll (9-7, 7-4) with 11 points and Andrew Rumler added 10.
Lawrence led by as many as 12 points late in the first half, but Jake Bast’s jumper completed a quick 6-0 run to cut that lead to 35-29 with a minute left before the break. The Vikings finished the half with a thunderous dunk by Conor Klusendorf to take a 40-31 lead at the half.
The Pioneers kept within striking distance, and Lawrence led 63-53 with eight minutes left. Siebert then completed a three-point play and Mays capped a 7-1 outburst with a 3-pointer to put the Vikings up 70-54 with 6:45 left.
Dan Kratz answered with a 3-pointer for Carroll, but Lawrence stretched the lead to 19 points when Mays hit a 3-pointer with 3:43 left to put the game out of reach.
The Vikings would lead by as many as 24 points down the stretch.
Lawrence returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Ripon College.
It has been out of the frying pan and into the fire for the Lawrence University hockey team all season.
The Vikings have played a very difficult schedule, but as Lawrence enters the final month of the regular season, head coach Mike Szkodzinski hopes this trial by fire will benefit his skaters.
“You have to beat the best to become the best,” Szkodzinski said. “We think it’s beneficial for our student-athletes to go against the best so they can see what they need to improve upon moving forward.”
Lawrence has faced only four opponents this season that haven’t been ranked by United States College Hockey Online at some point during the campaign.
“We definitely knew there were some great challenges ahead of us,” Szkodzinski said. “We know we have quality people in our program and we were very confident they would be able to rise to the challenges.”
That started with the first game of the season when the Vikings went to UW-Stevens Point and posted a 5-4 victory over the Pointers, who have been ranked as high as ninth this season. It was the first time the Vikings had beaten the Pointers in five tries.
“We will use that victory as an example for many years to come,” Szkodzinski said. “Every team needs to have a keynote victory and that’s one of those for Lawrence University hockey.”
Lawrence also downed St. Scholastica, ranked 11th to start the season, and skated to a 1-1 tie at UW-Superior, which checks in at No. 15 this week. Lawrence also has had games with perennial power St. Norbert College and UW-Eau Claire.
The Vikings have also faced increasingly difficult competition from within the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association. Lawrence just wrapped up a series with No. 9 Adrian College and take on No. 12 MSOE this weekend.
“I think it’s a testament to the MCHA and how much this league has improved over the last five years, especially the last three years with Adrian coming in,” Szkodzinski said.
“At one point this year there were four (MCHA teams) ranked in the top 20 in the nation. That’s something to be proud of and it shows how far our league has come.”
Despite the rigorous schedule, the Vikings are 9-7-1 on the season and are holding down second place in the MCHA Northern Division. With a schedule that features six home games in its final eight regular season contests, Szkodzinski believes his battle-tested group will be strong down the stretch.
“We feel we definitely have the tools to succeed within our league and within the West Region. The experience we’ve had against very high quality opponents will benefit us,” Szkodzinski said.
“It’s just a matter of time before those experiences come together and make us the team we believe we can be. We feel we’re a special moment away from being a legitimate contender for the MCHA title. Whether it’s a big save, a goal at the right time or a bounce we’ve earned.”
Beller joins football staff
Mark Beller, a former player at St. Norbert, has joined the Lawrence football coaching staff. Beller comes to Lawrence from the University of Puget Sound, where he coached the offensive line in 2010.
“I am really excited to be able to work with such a great staff,” Beller said. “It will be fun to get back into the Midwest Conference and be working with coach (Chris) Howard again.”
Beller is a native of Minocqua and played for current Lawrence head coach Chris Howard when he was the defensive coordinator at St. Norbert.
Beller went on to serve as a graduate assistant coach at Minnesota State University Mankato in 2007. Beller moved to the University of Redlands and was a graduate assistant coach for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He earned a Master’s degree in higher education from Redlands in 2010.
Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a weekly notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.
The Lawrence University hockey team takes on the 12th-ranked Milwaukee School of Engineering in a Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association series this weekend.
Lawrence hosts the Raiders at 7 p.m. on Friday and then travels to the Kern Center to take on the Raiders at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The Lawrence University men’s basketball team faces a pair of tough tests this week when it faces St. Norbert College and Carroll University.
The Vikings host 13th-ranked St. Norbert on Wednesday and then take on Carroll on Saturday. The Green Knights are leading the Midwest Conference, and Lawrence is tied with Carroll for second place in the league.
WHITEWATER, Wis. – Curran Carlile won the 5,000 meters on Saturday to pace the Lawrence University track team at the UW-Whitewater Invitational.
Carlile raced to the victory in 15:40.45, and David Zane grabbed third place for the Vikings. Zane finished in 16:01.12.
Rose Tepper was the top finisher for the Lawrence women. She placed fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 1.25 inches.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Lawrence University swim teams split at the Lake Forest College Triangular on Saturday.
The Lawrence men and women both defeated Carroll University. The men topped the Pioneers 68-33, and the women defeated Carroll 76-24. Lake Forest posted a 92-13 win in the men’s meet, and the Lawrence women fell to Lake Forest 81-32.
Hannah Gabriel won a pair of events for Lawrence, taking first in the 200-meter freestyle and the 400 freestyle. She also swam on Lawrence’s winning 200 freestyle relay team.
The Adrian College hockey team posted a 3-1 Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association victory Saturday over Lawrence University at the Appleton Family Ice Center to sweep a weekend series.
The Bulldogs (13-3-1, 10-1-1 MCHA) pulled out a 4-3 win in the series opener on Friday night.
Adrian got a big night from leading scorer Shawn Skelly, who did not play on Friday. Skelly had a goal and assisted on Adrian’s other two goals.
The Bulldogs got on the board on Andrew Dovey’s goal at 13:51 of the first and held a 1-0 edge heading into the second period. Adrian made it 2-0 late in the second period when Zach Graham scored on the power play at 14:55.
Skelly then made it 3-0 with his goal at 7:08 of the third.
After Mike Towns was whistled for a major penalty and given a game misconduct, Lawrence (9-7-1, 7-5-0) scored on the ensuing power play. Matt Hughes’ power-play goal at 14:33 trimmed the lead to 3-1.
Adrian was then whistled for too many players on the ice, and the Vikings had a two-man advantage for two minutes but could not cash in.
Brad Fogal made 33 saves to pick up the win. Evan Johnson stopped 32 shots for the Vikings and took the loss.
The Grinnell College men’s basketball team rallied from a 25-point halftime deficit Saturday and went on to a 112-103 overtime victory over Lawrence University in a Midwest Conference game at Alexander Gymnasium.
Griffin Lentsch scored 26 points to pace Grinnell (9-6, 4-6 MWC) and was one of six Pioneers scoring in double figures. Conor Klusendorf poured in a career-high 35 points to lead Lawrence (8-7, 7-3), and Erik Borresen had a double-double with 25 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.
Lawrence shot 71 percent (22-31) in the first half and rolled to a 60-35 lead at the break.
The Vikings still by 18 at 85-67 with 10:47 left in the second half, but Grinnell went on a 25-7 run over the next seven minutes to tie the score at 92-92 with 3:43 left.
The teams then traded the lead, and Grinnell went up 97-96 on Kale Knisley’s layup with 1:20 left. The score stayed that way until Klusendorf was fouled with 11 seconds left. He made one of two free throws to tie the game and force overtime.
The Pioneers hit their first three shots from the field in the extra period to take a 104-98 lead with 3:43 left. Lawrence got a free throw from Crisman and a dunk from Klusendorf to trim the lead to 104-101 with 3:11 remaining.
Grinnell countered with a three-point play from Dominique Bellamy, and Tyler Crisman answered with a layup for the Vikings to cut the lead to 107-103.
Matt Skelly then hit a jumper for Grinnell, and Crisman missed a 3-pointer for Lawrence. The Vikings were forced to foul, and Grinnell made three free throws in the final 28 seconds to seal the win.
Lawrence returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts St. Norbert College.
