LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team used a big second half Friday night to rout Lake Forest College 77-49 in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams.
John Dekker scored 21 points and Ryan Kroeger added 18 to pace Lawrence (3-0, 1-0 MWC). Andy Hurley added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Hoyt Rees scored 13 points to lead Lake Forest (1-4, 0-1).
Larwence led by three points at 26-23 at the half, but the Vikings steadily pulled away after the break. Kroeger opened the second half with two consecutive 3-pointers, and he later added another jumper to give Lawrence a 36-35 lead with 16:05 left.
The Foresters immediately cut the lead back to nine, but the Vikings then went on a 17-2 run over the next 5:31 to grab a 53-27 lead. Dekker hit a pair of 3-pointers during that stretch.
Lake Forest never got closer than 20 points after that, and the Vikings led by as many as 30.
Lawrence completes its weekend road trip when it plays at Monmouth on Saturday afternoon.