Lake Forest College Sports Information
January 20, 2004 Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID Comeback Bid Falls Short at Illinois College
With plenty of friends and family in attendance to see him play in his hometown, sophomore forward Franklyn Beckford (Jacksonville, IL/Jacksonville) led Lake Forest with 17 points and pulled down five rebounds. Freshman Quinton Spencer (Evergreen Park, IL/Brother Rice) scored a career-high 14 points, matched Beckford's five rebounds, and added three blocked shots and a steal. Spencer shot 6-for-7 from the floor and made both of his three-point field goal attempts. Fellow freshman Brad Wehner (Sheboygan, WI/Sheboygan North) chipped in 11 points. The Foresters shot 43.1% from the floor while the Blueboys connected on 52.3% of their field goal attempts. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, making less than 30% of their three-point attempts. Each squad pulled down 31 rebounds and committed six turnovers. Illinois College broke a 6-6 tie with a three-pointer and led the rest of the contest. The Blueboys used a 13-4 run in the first half to jump out to a 24-14 lead. Lake Forest trimmed the margin to eight three times before the end of the period but trailed 35-22 at intermission. The home team's lead reached as many as 18 points (44-26) early in the second half but an 11-2 run by the Foresters pulled them to within nine (46-35). Illinois College took its advantage back up to 14 points and led by that many (56-42) with 6:30 to play. Lake Forest outscored the Blueboys 12-1 over the next three minutes and trailed by just three (57-54) with 3:34 remaining. Both teams found scoring difficult down the stretch and a Spencer jumper with 37 seconds left cut the difference to five points (63-58). However, Illinois College made seven of eight free throws in the last 30 seconds to preserve the victory. Lake Forest will be back on the road this weekend (January 23-24) for a pair of conference games. The Foresters will play at Beloit College (2-11, 1-5 MWC) at 5:30 p.m. Friday evening and at Ripon College (7-7, 1-6) Saturday afternoon at 2:00.
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