The Lake Forest College men's basketball team won its ninth consecutive game Saturday, a 64-46 triumph over visiting Illinois College. Forester senior post player Travis Clark and forward Nate Bateman tied for game-high honors with 17 points apiece.

Bateman made six of nine field goal attempts, including three of six from three-point range. He also added three rebounds and three assists. Clark was 7-for-10 from the field, led the team with six rebounds and four assists, and matched the career-high he set on Wednesday with five steals.

Lake Forest shot 50 percent from the field, 5-for-15 on three-pointers, and 9-for-13 from the free throw line. The Foresters, who entered the week among the top 25 in the nation in overall and three-point field goal percentage, held Illinois College to 28.6 percent field goal shooting and the Blueboys connected on just six of 24 shots from beyond the arc. The home team was out-rebounded 35-34, however, but forced 20 turnovers while committing 16.

The Foresters led by as many as six points early in the contest but trailed 29-28 at halftime. Bateman had a team-high nine points in the period, Clark had seven, and junior post player Chris Madson scored six. Madson finished the game with a season-high seven points and five rebounds.

After the Blueboys scored the first basket of the second half, Lake Forest held them scoreless for nearly eight minutes while scoring 17 points themselves, including eight by Clark. A 9-0 Forester run a few minutes later extended their lead to a game-high 19 points and put the game out of reach.

Lake Forest is now 9-1 overall and tied with Grinnell College for first place in the Midwest Conference standings with a 5-0 league record. Illinois College fell to 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the conference.

The Foresters will travel to Knox College next Tuesday night for a 7:30 tip-off.