Lake Forest College Sports Information
February 11, 2004
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Eric McDonald Scores 1,000th Career Point in Crucial MWC Victory
Foresters defeat Illinois College 77-66
  

McDonald is the 16th 1,000-
point scorer in team history.
LAKE FOREST, IL - The Forester men’s basketball team stayed alive in the race for one of the four spots in the Midwest Conference Tournament with a 77-66 victory at home over Illinois College Wednesday (February 11) night. The win raised the team’s overall record to 10-10 and its league mark to 7-6 while dropping the Blueboys to 8-12 overall and 6-7 in the conference.

Forward Eric McDonald (Elk Grove, IL/Elk Grove) scored a game-high 25 points and added six rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot, and a steal. He shot 8-for-13 from the field, 1-of-2 from three-point range, and 8-of-9 from the free throw line. McDonald’s final point of the night was also the 1,000th of his career, making him the 16th player in school history to reach the mark and just the sixth to do so before his senior season.

Two other Foresters, sophomores Franklyn Beckford (Jacksonville, IL/Jacksonville) and Greg Klos (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North), also reached double figures with 19 and 12 points, respectively. Beckford was 6-for-8 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line while pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Klos connected on three of five attempts from beyond the three-point arc and three of four from the charity stripe.

The Foresters shot 51% from the field in the game and made half of their 12 three-point attempts. They held Illinois College to 41.2% shooting from the field and a 7-for-27 (25.9%) performance from long-range. Lake Forest also held a significant advantage at the free throw line, shooting 21-for-26 (80.8%) while the Blueboys were just 3-for-4. The visitors held a slight 35-34 edge in rebounds and committed four fewer turnovers (9-13) than the Foresters.

Lake Forest jumped out to a 7-2 lead before a 10-2 run put Illinois College ahead by three. The home team regained the advantage and extended the lead to seven points (37-30) at halftime.

McDonald and Klos made three-pointers to open the second half to increase the Forester lead to 43-30. A 9-2 Blueboy run quickly cut the margin to six points and the visitors trimmed it to 50-48 midway through the period. A McDonald three-point play with 8:28 to play ended a two-minute scoreless stretch and began a 15-4 Forester run that gave the home team a 65-52 lead with four minutes left. Illinois College cut the difference to eight points three times the rest of the way but could get no closer.

With only three games remaining on the regular season schedule, the fifth-place Foresters’ next opponent will be third-place Grinnell College (17-4, 10-4 MWC) on Saturday (February 14) at 3:00 p.m.

Box Score