Foresters Defeated at Home by Illinois College 70-59 
Turnovers plague Lake Forest
  

Bryan Bertola is now shooting 53.4% from three-point range.

For the second game in a row and eighth this season, the Foresters were led in scoring by senior center J.R. Jurecko (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville), who scored a game-high 20 points. Jurecko also added a game-high 11 rebounds to record his seventh double-double of the year.

Junior guard Bryan Bertola (Green Bay, WI/Bay Port) entered the week ranked second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, trailing only Nevada Smith of Bethany College 52.7% to 52.1%. Bertola went 5-for-7 from behind the arc on Wednesday, accounting for all 15 of his points and lifting his season's three-point accuracy rate to a staggering 53.4%.

While Lake Forest has overcome their tendency for turnovers (20.7 per game) most of the season, their 18 miscues on Wednesday led to 19 Illinois College points, compared to just 7 for the Foresters off of 15 Blueboy mistakes. Lake Forest also fell short on the boards, pulling down just 33 rebounds to IC's 45.

Illinois College scored nine straight points after the Foresters took a 5-0 lead. The lead grew to as many as seven points and the teams went into the locker room at halftime with Lake Forest trailing 26-22. The home team scored the second half's first five points to take their first lead since the 17:41 mark of the first half. Illinois College scored the next six and their lead fluctuated between one and five points until their 9-0 run put them ahead by ten at 47-37. The Foresters responded with an 11-4 run to cut the lead to three but could get no closer.

Lake Forest, now 15-6 overall on the season, could still earn a share of the conference title with a win at home against Knox College and a Grinnell College loss at Illinois College on Saturday (February 17th). In that scenario, the host of the MWC Tournament will not be determined until Saturday evening because of extenuating tie-breaking criteria. 

Box Score