Foresters Balanced Scoring Attack Downs Kalamazoo in Season Opener
Seven players, led by Brian Bruha's 16, score at least eight points

LAKE FOREST, IL - The Lake Forest College men's basketball team picked up right were they left off last season, using a balanced scoring attack to defeat Kalamazoo College, 80-70, on Saturday night (November 18th) at the Lake Forest Sports Center. The game was the season opener for both teams. 

Lake Forest (1-0) successfully avenged last year's 102-74 loss at Kalamazoo. The Foresters dropped their first three games in 1999-2000 before rattling off wins in 17 of their final 20 contests, including a stretch of 12 straight wins. 

Kalamazoo (0-1) played with no seniors and just one junior on their roster.

Kalamazoo would use a 7-1 run to close out the first half to trim Lake Forest's lead to one point (36-35) at halftime. Lee Taylor (Sheldon, IA/Sheldon) and Brian Bruha (Hillsboro, WI/Hillsboro) each scored eight points in the first frame for Lake Forest. 

A Nathan Burns basket at the 15:50 mark of the second half would give the Hornets a 45-44 lead, their first lead since early in the first half. Kalamazoo would hold the lead, but never by more than five points, until just under six minutes to play in the game, when an Evan Powers (Bondurant, IA/Bondurant-Farrar) free throw tied the score at 60-60. Fred Bell (Mequon, WI/Homestead) would break the tie with his second three-pointer in less than a minute and give LF a 63-60 lead. 

Lake Forest stretched their lead to five points with 4:14 remaining on a Bryan Bertola (Green Bay, WI/Bay Port) three-pointer, but Kalamazoo would pull within a point at 70-69 on Dirk Rhinehart's three of his own. 

J.R. Jurecko (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) would score the game's next five points, sparking a 10-1 Forester run to close the game. Bell made five-of-six free throws to seal the victory. 

The Foresters got eight or more points from seven different players on Saturday. Bruha led the offensive attack with 16 points. He added eight rebounds and four steals.

Other double figure scorers for LF included Bell with 13, Jurecko with 12, and Bertola, who canned three-of-six three-point field goals, with 11. Bell added seven rebounds and three assists, and 11 of his 13 points came in the second half. 

Jevon Caldwell-Gross led three players in double figures for Kalamazoo with 12 points. Kevin Baird and Rhinehart each had 11 points, while Scott Montmorency had nine points and nine rebounds.

Lake Forest will travel to University of Chicago on Tuesday, November 28th for their next contest. 

Box Score