The Lake Forest College men's basketball team rebounded from its first loss since the season opener to defeat visiting Monmouth College 79-66 Tuesday night. Forester senior forward Nate Bateman finished with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds and five assists.
Bateman also guarded Monmouth's top scorer throughout the game and held him to more than five points below his season average.
Three other Foresters scored in double figures, led by senior post player Travis Clark with a game-high 22. Clark shot 10-for-16 from the field and added seven rebounds, three assists, and a pair of blocked shots. Sophomore guard James Stack was next with 18 points and he added five rebounds and two assists. Stack shot 6-for-7 from the field and made all four of his attempts from three-point range. He has now connected on 17 of his last 20 shots from beyond the arc and is leading the Midwest Conference with a .553 three-point field goal percentage. Senior forward Drew Grennell shot 4-for-5 from the floor and finished with a dozen points.
With a shooting percentage of .525 for the game, Lake Forest made at least half of its field goal attempts for the eighth time this season and the third time in the last four games. The Foresters were also 10-for-21 from three-point range and 7-for-12 from the foul line. Monmouth shot 43.1 percent from the field, 4-for-13 from long-range, and 18-for-28 from the charity stripe. The home team out-rebounded the Scots 35-29 but committed 10 turnovers to the visitors' six.
An 11-0 first half run by the Foresters turned a four-point deficit into a 20-13 lead. After Monouth scored the next six points, Lake Forest pulled away again and took a 38-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The margin fluctuated between six and 12 points for most of the second half. The Foresters maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game following a Stack free throw with 10:59 to play. A highlight reel behind-the-back pass by Bateman to Clark for a dunk with 1:57 to play and a layup by Bateman with 1:34 left extended the lead to a game-high 18 points and brought out the reserves from both teams to close things out.
Lake Forest is now 16-2 overall this season and tied for first place in the MWC standings with a 12-1 league record. The Fighting Scots fell to 5-12 overall and 3-9 in the league.
The Foresters will play a pair of conference games in Wisconsin this weekend. They will take on Lawrence Unievrsity Friday night at 7:00 and Carroll University at 4:00 Saturday afternoon.