Lake County Gazette

The Lake Forest College men’s basketball team started the season on the right foot, winning seven out of the first eight games of the year. 

Head coach Ken Davis told the Lake County Gazette that he is excited to see the team get off to a hot start but wants to continue getting better and aims to win the conference tournament. 

“We talk about making sure we’re in a position to win our conference tournament and get an NCAA bid,” Davis said. “To ensure you get a bid, you have to win the conference tournament, if you don’t you’ll be waiting on an at-large bid.”

The Foresters started the season off with a narrow loss to Loras College. Lake Forest took a 43-39 lead into halftime, but Loras fought back to claim an 84-81 victory. Danny Sotos led Lake Forest with 19 points and six rebounds. Orlando Brown also turned in a solid performance with 14 points.

Following the opening-night loss, Lake Forest bounced back in its second game of the year against Great Lakes Christian College with a dominating 101-76 win. The Foresters controlled much of the game and were up 52-22 at the break. Eric Porter and Luke McDermott each scored 17 points, and Sam Husting recorded nine rebounds. 

Lake Forest continued its good form in the following game when the Foresters knocked off Carthage College by a score of 71-65. Porter and Sotos led Lake Forest with 20 points each. Orlando Brown was key for the Foresters as well and pulled down 10 rebounds. 

Following the win over Carthage, the Foresters opened up conference play and faced off against Beloit College. Lake Forest started the game out strong and built an early lead. By halftime, Lake Forest was up 47-30. Beloit fought back in the second half, but it wasn’t enough and the Foresters recorded an 84-72 victory. Sotos led the way for Lake Forest with 23 points, and Porter put up 17 points in the win. 

Lake Forest continued its winning ways, knocking off the University of Chicago, Cornell University, Grinnell College and Illinois College in consecutive games. 

Davis said one thing that has helped the Foresters get off to a hot start is a good core of returning players.

“Eric Porter and Orlando Brown are two seniors who have set the tone for the team and have done a good job leadership-wise on the court,” Davis said. “Our junior class is also very experienced and have played very well.”

While the Foresters got off to a hot start, Davis isn’t content to rest on his laurels and is looking at areas where the team can improve.

“I think we still need to keep improving on the defensive end,” he said. “We need to keep working on the things that we talk a lot about and always keep improving and get better.”

During the remainder of the season, Lake Forest will face off against the University of St. Francis on Dec. 29, Monmouth College on Jan. 3 and Lawrence University on Jan. 17. 

Davis said that he doesn’t want the team to get wrapped up in any particular game but to stay focused on every game on the schedule leading up to the conference tournament.

“All the games in their own way are important,” Davis said. “We always need to focus on our conference games. But I think our non-conference schedule has challenged us, and I think we’ve done a good job handling that.”

For more information on the Forester’s season, or to view the team’s full schedule visit www.goforesters.com.