GRINNELL, Iowa -- Chris Page scored a game-high 27 points, and the No. 25 Lawrence University men's basketball team routed Carroll University 90-66 in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Tournament Friday at Grinnell College.
Page, a senior forward from Amherst, Wis., hit 12 of 14 shots from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds. The hot-shooting Vikings (18-6), who have won eight straight and nine consecutive MWC Tournament games, hit 57.6 percent (34-59) of their shots from the floor.
Lawrence faces Grinnell in Saturday's 3:00 p.m. championship game. The winner receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Ryan Kroeger, who was 8-for-10 from the floor, scored 23 points for Lawrence. John Dekker added a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, and Jayce Apelgren also was in double figures for the Vikings with 16 points.
Doug Kadison had a game-high eight assists and now has 141 this season to break the Lawrence record. Head coach Joel DePagter set the season record of 137 in 1996-97.
John Hoch paced Carroll (16-8) with 24 points, and Nathan Zimmerman added 17.
The Vikings jumped on Carroll midway through the first half and then pulled away after the break.
Lawrence went on a 12-4 run, capped by Apelgren's jumper, that gave the Vikings a 35-24 lead with 7:18 left in the first half. Lawrence would lead by as many as 16 points in the first half before Carroll cut the lead to 48-38 at the break.
The Vikings scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 55-38 advantage, and Carroll never seriously threatened.
Page's 3-pointer with 10:51 left put Lawrence up 72-51, and the Pioneers never got closer than 17 points after that.