The Article below was published in Vol. 135, Issue 3 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on November 8, 2019
By Emily Mosher ’21
Sports Editor
After the Lake Forest men’s basketball team’s 12-6 conference record, winning the conference championship, and then losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament, it is undisputed that the men will have a chip on their shoulder this season.
The men are returning 13 players, only losing Danny Sotos ’19, Chad Bauchan ’19, and Jordan Moran ’19. Although the seniors last season were starters and empirical components of the program, the team is joined by nine new freshmen and one transfer student. They will attempt to build the program back to what it was last season.
Captains Sean Espinosa ’21 and Sam Husting ’20 are returning. Espinosa shot a 48.5% last season, just under Husting’s impressive 49%. Espinosa averaged 18.2 points per game, while Husting averaged 11.1. Espinosa led the team in points per game and was an important part of the team. Espinosa’s return will be highly anticipated.
Tashon Brown ’22, who averaged 12.2 points per game and shot a 41.4%, will be a returning sophomore. As a freshman, taking on a starting role showed true leadership. Brown will be hungry for more court time and another winning season.
The team averaged 83.6 points per game, shot a 50.5%, and a 40.6% on their threes. The men had an unfortunate loss to #4 Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, with a score of 86-62. Only losing by 24 points to a number four nationally ranked team shows how talented the LFC team truly is. The men managed to beat St. Norbert in the second game of the Midwest Conference Tournament by four points. Perhaps this year the team will set out to get to where they were last year and will, hopefully, achieve this with the support of the campus.
