Lake Forest College Sports Information
December 4, 2004
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Foresters Hold Off Monmouth in Midwest Conference Opener
McDonald leads all players with 22 points and nine rebounds 

  

McDonald scored 20+ points for the third straight game.
MONMOUTH, IL - The Lake Forest College men’s basketball team won a 78-72 decision at Monmouth College Saturday (December 4) in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams. The Foresters and Fighting Scots are each 3-3 on the season.

Senior forward Eric McDonald (Elk Grove, IL/Elk Grove) led all players with 22 points and nine rebounds and played all but three minutes in the game. He shot 6-for10 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the foul line and added three assists and a pair of steals.

All five Forester starters scored in double figures. Junior guard Greg Klos (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North) was next on the team with 12 points. Sophomore guard Brad Wehner (Sheboygan, WI/Sheboygan North) scored 11 and both junior guard Dodd Browning (Champaign, IL/Central) and junior forward Franklyn Beckford (Jacksonville, IL/Jacksonville) had 10.

Lake Forest shot 47.6% from the field in the game, made seven of 19 three-point field goal attempts (36.8%) and shot 31-for-37 from the free throw line (83.8%). The home team shot 42.4% from the field, 38.1% (8-21) from three-point range, and 73.7% (14-19) from the foul line. The Foresters were out-rebounded 32-29 and committed 16 turnovers while forcing 11.

The Foresters scored the game’s first three points before giving up the next four. The Scots held the 4-3 advantage, their only lead of the game, for just over a minute before a 10-2 Lake Forest run gave the visitors a seven-point edge with 12:51 remaining in the opening period. The lead grew to as many as nine (20-11) with 8:15 left on the clock but was back down to five (23-18) with 6:48 remaining. The Foresters scored the game’s next 12 points to pull away and led 38-22 at halftime.

Lake Forest’s largest lead of the game was 21 points (54-33) with 11 minutes left in the contest. A 13-2 Monmouth run cut the margin to 10 points (56-46) with 5:42 remaining and an 8-1 run by the Scots trimmed it to just four (65-61) with 1:17 on the clock. The home team was able to pull to within a single point (71-70) with 29 seconds left but a 13-for-16 free throw shooting performance by the Foresters in the game’s final 65 seconds clinched the win.

Lake Forest will host Knox College Tuesday (December 7) night at 7:00 in the Foresters final game of the fall semester.

Box Score