LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team traveled to Lake Forest in non-conference action on Wednesday (Dec. 6). After a back-and-forth first half that ended with the Hornets leading by four at the half, K led the Foresters for all but 30 seconds in the second half on the way to an 89-81 win.
Lake Forest jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead within the first three minutes of the ball game. After a timeout, Kalamazoo started chipping away and eventually took a 25-23 lead with 11:43 on the clock. The game was tied seven times and the lead changed hands another four times for the rest of the half as the Hornets scored the final five points to take a 49-45 lead into halftime.
K's biggest lead for the first seven and a half minutes of the second half was five until the Foresters regained a 62-61 lead. The Hornets took the lead right back and went on a 13-4 run to grab an eight-point lead with 7:40 remaining. After LFC cut the deficit back down to four, Kalamazoo pushed the lead back out to as much as 12 down the stretch, coming away with an eight-point victory.
Kalamazoo shot 53.0% overall compared to Lake Forest's 46.4%. The Hornets made 11 of 23 (47.8%) three-pointers compared to 8 of 24 (33.3%) by the Foresters. Kalamazoo went 8 of 11 (72.7%) from the free throw line compared to 9 of 17 (52.9%) by Lake Forest. The Hornets had 33 rebounds compared to the Foresters' 36, while Kalamazoo had 22 assists on 35 made field goals.
Ty Horky scored a season-high 29 points by going 13-21 from the field while adding six rebounds and two steals. Carter Bandemer went 4-7 from deep, finishing with 15 points and five assists. Lukas Broadsword nearly had a double-double with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Gabriel Sharp added 12 points off the bench, and Bobby Samples led the team with seven assists. Samples (8), Patrick Perez (6), Connor Kouki (5), and JJ Stevens (2) rounded out the scoring for the Hornets.
Kalamazoo will take a trip out to California to play a neutral site game against (RV) Redlands on Monday (Dec. 18) at 7 p.m. and then a road game at Cal Luthern on Tuesday (Dec. 19) at 5 p.m.