Lake Forest Clamps Down Defensively on Blueboys

Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill.- The Illinois College men's basketball team got off to a fast start, but Lake Forest College held the Blueboy offense in check late in the first half and throughout the second half, pulling away for a 67-52 victory on Wednesday night at Sherman Gymnasium. The Foresters are now 12-6 (8-3 Midwest Conference), while the Blueboys fall to 7-11 (2-9 MWC).

Lake Forest's Danny Sotos started off the scoring, hitting a layup 15 seconds into the game. Illinois College responded with a three-pointer from Max Stutsman, followed by a layup from Tim Parks, to give the Blueboys a 5-2 advantage early on.

Brady Hays hit a three-pointer to give Illinois College its largest lead of the game, 15-11, just over five minutes into the game. Two straight buckets from Aram Arslanian and Luke McDermott brought Lake Forest even, 15-15, but Mason Speer quickly countered with a three to put IC back up, 18-15. Following four straight points for Lake Forest, Hays reclaimed the lead for Illinois College, 20-19, after a short jumper.

Arslanian put Lake Forest back up, and a tip-in from Sotos pushed the Foresters' lead to three, 23-20, with three minutes left in the half. David Bauer found Speer under the basket for an IC basket, tying the game at 25-25 with just over a minute remaining in the first half. 

Arslanian found the bucket for a Lake Forest layup, giving the Foresters a 27-25 lead with 40 seconds to play in the first half. Speer pulled Illinois College even with eight seconds left, hitting a pair of free throws to tie the game at 27-27. However, Jason Hasenberg was fouled on a shot as time expired and he hit the two free throws to send LFC to the half with the lead, 29-27. 

Arslanian hit a free throw and Sotos converted a layup to extend Lake Forest's lead to five, 32-27, to begin the second half. Illinois College countered with a layup from Speer to come within three, 32-29.

The Foresters took control from that point, constructing a 14-2 run that was capped by two Arslanian free throws. The run saw Lake Forest take a commanding 18-point lead, 56-38, with just over eight minutes left to play.

The Blueboys would pull within 15 points, 62-47, following two Riley Dugan free throws with three minutes remaining. Arslanian hit a layup and the and-one to extend Lake Forest's lead out to 20 points, 67-47, with two minutes left to play.

Illinois College had the last five points from Isaac Collins and Sean McDonald, but time ran out on the Blueboys. Parks led IC with 16 points and Speer followed with 11. Arslanian led all scorers, providing 25 points for Lake Forest. Sotos finished with 14 for the Foresters. 

Illinois College hits the floor again on Jan. 27, when the Blueboys will square off against Ripon College. Tip is set for 1 p.m.