Foresters claim school's first-ever outright conference championship.For the first time in school history, Lake Forest College sits alone atop the Midwest Conference in men's basketball. By clinching the regular season title on Saturday with a 94-91 win at Grinnell, the Foresters locked up their first Midwest Conference title since 1978 when they shared the trophy with Ripon and their first outright championship in school history. Winning the MWC's regular season also gives the Foresters the right to host the four-team conference tournament on February 25-26. The winner of that tournament will gain the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

More Midwest Conference history on the horizon.The Foresters 14-0 start to the season has the team thinking about a perfect conference regular season. Since the conference instituted playoffs/tournaments in 1976-77, just three teams have finished the regular season undefeated - Ripon at 13-0 in 1997-98, Monmouth at 13-0 in 1989-90, and Beloit at 12-0 in 1980-81. All three teams went on to win the conference championship - Ripon in a four-team tournament, and Monmouth and Beloit in a two-team tournament.

Ten and counting.The Foresters are riding a ten-game winning streak entering this week's final two regular season contests. Since starting the season with three straight losses, Lake Forest has rattled off 15 wins in their last 17 outings. The team has not lost to a Midwest Conference opponent all season. Overall, LF is 15-5 on the season.

Two tune-ups on tap this week for the Foresters.Lake Forest will host Ripon College on Wednesday night (8:00) and then Grinnell College on Saturday afternoon (3:00) in their final two regular season games. Both contests will be the second half of a women/men doubleheader. Ripon is the two-time defending MWC champs and is currently in second place in league play. Lake Forest will host the 2000 four-team Midwest Conference Tournament, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. 

Bruha named Player of the Week. Brian Bruha, a sophomore from Hillsboro, WI (Hillsboro High School), was been named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Bruha turned in a steady performance this past week as the Foresters picked up two road wins. He poured in 19 points on 8 of 16 shooting, including 3 of 7 from beyond the three-point arc, with 8 rebounds and 6 steals in an 86-69 win over Knox on Wednesday (Feb. 9). Against high-scoring Grinnell, Bruha missed a triple-double by just one assist. He connected for 12 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals to propel the Foresters to a 94-91 win on Saturday (Feb. 12). The win at Grinnell clinched the 1999-2000 Midwest Conference Championship for the Foresters, the school's first outright title in school history and second ever. Lake Forest shared the championship with Ripon in 1978. For the week, Bruha shot .520 on 13 of 25 from the floor while averaging 14.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 5.0 steals per game. The Midwest Conference's Sports Information Directors select the Conference Players of the Week.

Scouting the Red Hawks.The two-time defending MWC champs visit the current MWC champs on Wednesday in the two teams only regular season match-up of the season. Ripon currently has a tight hold on second place in the conference with a 10-4 mark. The Red Hawks are 16-4 overall and had won 11 of their last 12 games before a 65-62 setback at Lawrence on Feb. 12th. Ripon boasts of four players averaging over 12 points per game - sophomore Josh Glocke (12.9), senior Steve Brooks (12.6), senior Jeff Massen (12.3), and sophomore Steve Kohl (12.2). Kohl leads the MWC is assists per game.

Scouting the Pioneers.Grinnell has led the nation in scoring the past seven seasons and is on pace to do so again this year. Their run-and-gun attack is producing 103.7 points per game, but the team is surrendering 112 ppg. Field goal percentage defense has not been Grinnell's strong suit this year. Of the top ten single game highs for team field goal percentage, eight have come at the expense of GC. The Pioneers are 6-14 overall and 3-11 (tenth place) in the MWC this season. Grinnell was Lake Forest's 10th straight victim last Saturday (Feb. 12th). The Foresters defeated the Pioneers 94-91 in Grinnell last week.