APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball turned up the defensive intensity and caught fire on offense in the second half to roll to an 80-61 Midwest Conference victory over Illinois College Friday at Alexander Gymnasium.
The Vikings (9-10, 6-6 MWC) went on a 21-0 run early in the second half and limited Illinois College (9-9, 5-6) to only eight points in the first 15:11 of the second half.
John Dekker had game highs of 21 points and five assists to pace Lawrence. Tyler Crisman added 15 points, and Erik Borresen had 10 points, a game-high nine rebounds and two blocks.
Illinois College hit its first six 3-point attempts and built a 19-7 lead early. Lawrence battled back and got a thunderous dunk from freshman Conor Klusendorf to cut the lead to 35-30 at the half.
Lawrence trailed 39-36 before scoring the game's next 21 points. Dekker hit three consecutive 3-pointers in that stretch, and Borresen scored six points during the run that gave Lawrence a 57-39 lead.
Illinois College finally ended a 8:08 scoreless drought with a pair of Dillon Binkley free throws at the 9:23 mark. The Blueboys would get no closer than 16 points, and Lawrence would lead by as many as 28 points.
After shooting 48.3 percent in the first half, Lawrence limited Illinois College to only 33.3 percent (8-24) shooting from the floor in the second half. After hitting their first six 3-pointers of the game, Illinois College was limited to only 2-for-17 shooting from beyond the arc the rest of the game.
Lawrence hit on 19 of 31 shots (61.3 percent) in the second half and shot 54.2 percent for the game.
The Vikings return to action Saturday afternoon when they host Knox College.