Men’s Basketball

GALESBURG, Ill. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team bolted to a big early lead and cruised to a 72-43 Midwest Conference victory over Knox College on Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium.

Conor Klusendorf and Ryan DePouw scored 13 points apiece to pace Lawrence (7-8, 5-5 MWC), and Klusendorf added a game-high nine rebounds. Chris Siebert and Tyler Mazur added 10 points apiece for the Vikings.

David Jones and Lukas Shaw scored seven points apiece to lead Knox (1-14, 1-9).

After both teams got off to a cool start, Lawrence led 4-2 when the Vikings scored the next 12 points. Siebert scored five points in that stretch and Klusendorf added four as the Vikings built a 16-4 lead.

Lawrence would continue to pull away early with Troy Miller hitting a 3-pointer to give Lawrence a 28-8 lead with 7:12 left in the opening half. The Vikings would go on to lead 39-17 at the break.

The Vikings put the game away early in the second half. Lawrence opened the second half on a 12-1 scoring run to build a 49-18 advantage with 15:46 remaining.

The Vikings would go on to lead by as many as 35 points.

Lawrence’s defense limited Knox to only 34.1 percent shooting from the floor, including 15 percent from beyond the 3-point line. The Vikings also forced 24 Knox turnovers.  

Lawrence returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Carroll University in a Midwest Conference game.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — Chris Siebert poured in 20 points and was clutch down the stretch as the Lawrence University men’s basketball team rallied for a 63-59 Midwest Conference victory over Lake Forest College on Wednesday at Alexander Gymnasium.

Siebert went 6-for-9 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the foul line, and he hit a huge 3-pointer down the stretch to lead the Vikings (6-6, 4-3 MWC). Siebert also hit four big free throws in the final minute to help seal the victory.

Ryan DePouw added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds for Lawrence.

Jeff Beck scored 22 points and went 10-for-10 from the foul line to pace Lake Forest (4-9, 2-6). Brian Madson added 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Foresters.

Lake Forest jumped on the Vikings early and raced to a 20-5 lead with 10:36 left in the first half. Lawrence trailed 30-20 but rode a scoring burst to finish the first half. Siebert drained a 3-pointer with 2:43 left, and Brian Gryszkiewicz followed with a layup. Gryszkiewicz then picked up a steal and fed Siebert for a fastbreak layup to cut Lake Forest’s lead to 30-27 at the half.

The Vikings trailed 43-37 before going on a 10-2 run to take their first lead of the game. Jamie Nikitas hit a 3-pointer to get the run started, and Conor Klusendorf picked up a steal and dunk to cut the lead to 45-43. Siebert and Klusendorf then hit back-to-back jumpers to give Lawrence a 47-45 lead with 6:14 left.

Lake Forest grabbed the lead back at 49-48, but DePouw’s three-point play gave Lawrence the lead back for good at 51-49.

The Vikings were up 53-51 when Siebert drained a key 3-pointer to put the Vikings up 56-51 with 2:01 remaining. The teams then traded free throws, and Lawrence held a 58-55 lead when Nikitas was fouled with 28 seconds left. He hit one free throw to put Lawrence up 59-55.

Klusendorf then stole the ball from Beck near midcourt and finished with a dunk to give the Vikings a 61-55 edge. Klusendorf was whistled for a technical foul for hanging on the rim, and Beck converted a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 61-57 with 16 seconds left.

The Foresters then got a layup from Mitch Caywood with six seconds left, and Lake Forest fouled Siebert with three seconds remaining. He hit both free throws to seal the victory.

Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Grinnell College to face the nation’s highest-scoring team.

Box score

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team fell to Ashford University 68-52 in the championship game of the Just A Game Winter Classic on Wednesday.

DeAndre Lowery scored a game-high 24 points to pace Ashford (11-4), and Brandon Weston added 14 points.

Davis DeWolfe scored 17 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to lead Lawrence (5-6). Chris Siebert added 15 points and a game-high four assists for the Vikings.

Ashford, an NAIA Division II school located in Clinton, Iowa, used a 21-2 run midway through the second half to pull away in what had been a tight ballgame.

Lawrence led by as many as five points in the first half, but the Saints rallied to take a 31-30 lead at the half. The game see-sawed early in the second half as well and was tied for the 10th time at 41-41 on Tom Antosz’s layup with 13:26 remaining.

Vesteinn Sveinsson then hit a 3-pointer to start the decisive run for Ashford. The Saints scored 21 points over the next 4:59 to grab a 62-43 lead with 7:52 left. Lowery did much of the damage by scoring eight points in that stretch.

Lawrence committed six turnovers and went 1-for-4 from the floor and 0-for-2 from the foul line during the same stretch.

The Vikings never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

Lawrence does not return to action until Jan. 9 when the Vikings host Lake Forest College in a Midwest Conference game.

Box score

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team built a double-digit lead and then held off a Lakeland College comeback to beat the Muskies 80-73 in a nonconference game in Just A Game Winter Classic on Tuesday.

Lawrence (5-5) advances to face Ashford University in Wednesday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m. Lakeland (7-1), which saw its school-record tying seven-game win streak snapped, takes on Viterbo University in the consolation game. Ashford defeated Lakeland 55-52 in the other game on Tuesday.

Chris Siebert led Lawrence with 23 points and turned in the play of the game to help the Vikings pull away. Conor Klusendorf added a season-high 20 points for the Vikings. Davis DeWolfe added 15 points and Ryan DePouw had 12 for Lawrence.

Jake Schwarz paced Lakeland with 25 points and nine rebounds, and Justin Ward had a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Lawrence built several double-digit leads but the Muskies rallied. The Vikings went on a 9-0 run, punctuated by DePouw’s steal and layup, to build a 34-22 lead with 3:17 left in the opening half. Lawrence would go on to lead 36-26 at the half.

Lakeland trimmed the lead to three in the opening minutes of the second half, but Lawrence again pulled away. The Vikings went on a 12-2 run, with Siebert scoring five points and DePouw finishing the outburst with a three-point play, to give Lawrence a 57-41 lead with 12:37 left.

The Vikings led 69-56 when Lakeland rattled off 10 consecutive points to cut the margin to 69-66.

On the ensuing possession, Lawrence was inbounding the ball from under its own basket with just three seconds left on the shot clock when a Lakeland defender turned his back on Siebert. Siebert, who was inbounding the ball, bounced the inbounds pass off the Lakeland player’s back, caught it and layed the ball in. He was fouled on the play and converted the free throw for a 72-66 Lawrence lead with 1:57 left.

Lakeland was forced to foul, and Lawrence went 8-for-12 from the foul line in the final 1:32 to seal the victory. The Vikings were 21-for-30 from the line for the game, while Lakeland was 8-for-11.

Box score