The men's basketball team clinched the Midwest Conference championship last week with a pair of road victories over Knox College and Grinnell College. The wins extended the Foresters' winning streak to ten games and their record within the conference to a perfect 14-0. As a result, they will host the Midwest Conference Tournament on February 25-26 to determine the conference's NCAA Tournament participant. The only other team that has clinched a spot in the tournament is second place Ripon, whose conference record stands at 10-4.
 
On February 9, the Foresters trekked to Galesburg, Illinois and defeated Knox College by a count of 86-69. The Foresters blew away third place Knox in the first half, outscoring them 45-29 before coasting to the seventeen-point victory.
 
As has been the case for most of the season, the Foresters made use of a multi-pronged offensive attack that resulted in four players scoring in double-digits and seven players scoring at least six points. 
 
They were led by Brian Bruha, who had 19 points and six steals. J.R. Jurecko and Lee Taylor each had 12 points, and Fred Bell continued his stellar rookie campaign with 14 points of his own.
 
On Saturday, the Foresters survived a shoot-out with Grinnell College, edging them 94-91. It was an uncharacteristic victory for the Foresters, who usually smother their opponents with the conference-leading defense that allows just 62 points per contest.
 
Two other season-long hallmarks of success, field goal shooting and rebounding, led them to victory. The Foresters out-rebounded Grinnell 58-41 and shot a ridiculous 66 percent from the field. Jurecko and Evan Powers led the way with 18 points each, while Eric Tolar and Bruha added 14 and 12 respectively. Senior Joe Wysocki contributed ten points.
 
The Foresters, who were ranked ninth within the ten team Midwest Conference in a preseason coaches poll, will finally have two home games this week after playing six of their last seven on the road. They will host Ripon on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. and Grinnell on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. 
 
Despite the fact that the two games will have no effect on their conference standing, senior co-captain Joe Wysocki has no doubt his team will be focused. "We're not just hoping for a conference championship. We want to do well in the NCAA tournament, and these two games can help us get a better seed."