LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Carroll University men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss on the road to Lake Forest on Friday afternoon by a score of 74-80.
Kobe Simpson scored a team-high 19 with four rebounds and four assists. Eckhaelo Simpson pulled in eight rebounds.
The Pioneers (3-9) suffer the set-back after shooting 6-26 from behind the arc and letting Lake Forest knock down 8-18 threes. The Pioneers had the stronger bench and presence in the paint, but Lake Forest's 11 fast break points and 14 second chance points were more than the Pios'. The closely contested game had seven lead changes and it was tied six times, but the Pios only had the lead for three minutes of the game.
The Pioneers started the game with the advantage, highlighted by a three-pointer from
Justin Steinike to take an 11-9 lead at the 16 minute mark. Both programs continued to go back and forth, but Carroll went scoreless for four minutes as the Foresters' lead ballooned to six. The Pios responded after going down six-points, with a three-pointer from Kobe.
Paradisio Dante gave Carroll the lead back with 2:34 left in the first after back-to-back points in the paint. The Foresters went into halftime with a 40-38 lead over Carroll after the Pios shot 46.9% from the floor.
Carroll tied the game twice in the opening minutes of the second half thanks to four points by
Aaron Wafford. Lake Forest responded each time, taking a five-point advantage four minutes into the second-half. Kobe brought the lead down to one after another three-point jumper, but Lake Forest came right back. The Foresters pushed the lead to double-digits that forced the Pios to call timeout. Eckhaleo knocked down a pair of free throws out of the time out to give Carroll some momentum back. Carroll crawled back from a 13-point deficit, and cut it to four after
Jacob Naber made a layup in the paint with 53 seconds left. The Pioneers' chances to come back all the way were thwarted by two blocks and a fast-break layup at the other end by Lake Forest as they sealed the game.
Carroll returns to CCIW games on Wednesday, January 4, when they host Carthage College in Van Male at 7 PM.
