The Lawrence University men’s basketball had a rough outing Jan. 7 at the Flood Arena in Beloit, suffering a 86-64 loss to the Buccaneers.
The Vikings held close to the Buccaneers for the first six minutes, but Beloit pulled forward and maintained at least a nine point lead, ending 49-30 the first half. Led by sophomore Chris Siebert, who paced the team with 22 points, the Vikings came out strong in the second half. After sophomore Davis DeWolfe’s successful free throws, Siebert went off for 10 points and cut Beloit’s 19-point lead to 52-42 with 17:41 left. The Vikings could not manage to overcome the Buccaneer lead, and their loss ranks them 3-6 overall and 2-3 in conference.
After Siebert’s 22 points, senior Tyler Crisman and DeWolfe followed with 13 points each. Sophomore Brian Gryszkiewicz, junior Conor Klusendorf, and Siebert each had four rebounds.
Over winter break, the team played six games. Vikings traveled to Marian for a 74-65 loss, followed by a 76-69 win at Illinois College. At Illinois College, the Vikings grabbed the lead and held it, but the Blueboys maintained pressure, bringing the score to 38-33 at half. Crisman opened the second half with two back to back three-pointers, followed by a free throw by Gryszkiewicz to secure a 12-point lead. Illinois College fought back to cut the lead to 6 points, but the Vikings got the win. Siebert had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds against the Blueboys, followed by DeWolfe with 16 points and six rebounds.
The Vikings traveled to Lake Forest for a close 66-65 loss and fell to Knox 71-68 in their only home game over break, followed by an 87-74 win at Monmouth. Crisman went off for 29 points, pacing the Vikings with a third of the team’s total 87 points.
The Vikings held the lead over Knox until the last three minutes of the first half, entering the second half at 36-32. Siebert started the second half with a three-pointer, followed by a steal and dunk by Klusendorf, a layup and free throw by Siebert again and a jumper by Gryszkiewicz to secure a 42-36 lead, which the team maintained to end with an 87-74 win. The Vikings traveled to all the way to Florida over break, playing once against Southeastern, ending in a rough 95-65 loss.