APPLETON, Wis. -- Ryan Kroeger scored 32 points to lead the Lawrence University men's basketball team to an 81-70 Midwest Conference victory over Knox College on Friday night at Alexander Gymnasium.
Kroeger hit 9 of 16 shots from the floor and was 13 of 13 and was one point shy of tying his career high. He scored 33 points against Carroll University last season. Dustin Lee came off the bench to add 12 points for Lawrence (4-2, 1-0 MWC), and Jayce Apelgren had 11.
Ben Wetherbee led Knox (0-4, 0-1) with 24 points. He was 9 of 16 from the floor, including 6 of 11 on 3-pointers.
Knox led by as many as seven points at 48-41 with 13;31 left in the game before the Vikings rallied. Lawrence took its first lead since 4:28 was left in the first half when John Dekker buried a 3-pointer with 8:03 left to put the Vikings up 56-54. Jamie DeMatthew then added a pair of free throws, and Chris Page followed with a layup to complete a 19-6 Lawrence run for a 60-54 lead with 6:57 left.
Knox still trailed by six at 63-57 when Lawrence started to slowly pull away. The Vikings led 75-63 on Page's three-point play with 1:36 left, and Knox was forced to foul. The Vikings made 6 of 6 from the foul line in the final 1:17 to seal the victory.
The Vikings were red-hot from the floor in the second half, hitting 69.6 percent (16-23) of their shots after the break. Lawrence shot 52.9 percent for the game and made 17 of 18 (95.5 percent) from the foul line.
Lawrence returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Illinois College.