APPLETON, Wis. -- Five players scored in double figures, and the Lawrence University men's basketball team rolled to a 92-68 Midwest Conference victory over Beloit College on Wednesday night.
The win keeps Lawrence's hopes alive for at least a share of the Midwest Conference championship and the possibility of hosting the MWC Tournament on Feb. 27-28. A win at Ripon College on Saturday would assure Lawrence of at least a share of the league title.
Doug Kadison and Chris Page both had double-doubles for Lawrence (16-6, 12-3), which pulled into a first-place tie with Grinnell College and St. Norbert College. Kadison had 16 points and 10 assists, and Page had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Jayce Apelgren also had 16 points for Lawrence, and John Dekker added 10.
Andy Horton paced Beloit (4-19, 2-14) and all scorers with 30 points. Michael Horton added 13 points, and Travis Towns had 10.
Beloit's hot shooting early in the first half kept the Bucs in the game, but Lawrence pulled away late in the opening 20 minutes. The Vikings led 30-29 when they went on a 13-0 run. Dustin Lee scored six of his nine points during that stretch, both on 3-pointers, including one that capped the run and gave Lawrence a 43-29 lead with 2:39 left.
The Vikings would go on to lead 48-33 at the half.
Lawrence put the game away early in the second half. The Vikings opened the second half on a 15-6 run that gave Lawrence a 66-39 lead with 14:38 remaining. Kadison and Apelgren scored five points apiece during that run. That 27-point lead would be Lawrence's largest of the game, and Beloit never got closer than 17 the rest of the way.