BELOIT, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team could not overcome a cold shooting night and dropped a 75-61 Midwest Conference decision at Beloit College on Wednesday night.
Lawrence (10-12, 7-8 MWC) shot only 38.2 percent (21-55) from the floor, including 31.8 percent in the first half. The loss virtually eliminates the Vikings from any hope of making the Midwest Conference Tournament.
John Dekker paced the Vikings with 20 points. Jon Mays and Jamie DeMatthew added 10 points apiece. Travis Towns had 20 points to lead Beloit (8-15, 6-10), which snapped a 16-game losing streak against the Vikings that dated back to Dec. 8, 2001.
Lawrence got off to a slow start, and Beloit led by as many as 16 points in the first half. The Vikings made a small run at Beloit late in the first half, cutting the lead to nine, before Beloit recovered to lead 33-21 at the half.
The Vikings trailed 54-39 before making a run at the Bucs. Lawrence went on an 11-1 run to trim the margin to 55-50 with 4:49 left. Drew Shaw hit a pair of 3-pointers in that outburst to get the Vikings back in the game.
Beloit got a three-point play from Derek Carrier to stop Lawrence's momentum. Lawrence trimmed the margin back to six points, but Beloit scored the game's next six points, and Lawrence didn't get closer than nine points after that.
The Vikings finish the regular season on Saturday when they host Ripon College.