MONMOUTH, Ill. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team jumped out to an early lead Saturday and never looked back in a 79-59 Midwest Conference victory over Monmouth College at Glennie Gymnasium.
    Lawrence led by double digits five minutes into the game and built the lead to as many as 25 in the second half.
    Brad Sendell and Matthew Kaznikov led Lawrence (7-9, 4-3 MWC) with 19 points apiece. Sendell was 6-for-13 from the floor, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, and added five assists, three steals and three rebounds. Kaznikov went 7-for-14 from the floor, including 5-for-9 from beyond the arc.
    Adnan Sarancic posted a double-double for the Vikings with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Kyle Lillwitz added 11 points and collected three rebounds for Lawrence.
    Kendell Brasfield paced Monmouth (2-10, 1-3) with 17 points.
    Lawrence raced out to an early lead as Sarancic scored eight points and Kaznikov hit a pair of 3-pointers to help stake the Vikings to a 16-5 advantage with 14:42 left in the opening half.
    The Scots trimmed the margin back to nine points twice over the next 4:36, but Lawrence pulled away again. Lillwitz buried a 3-pointer, and Kaznikov followed with another triple to give Lawrence a 28-13 lead with 7:14 left. Sendell then drained a 3-pointer, and Lawrence had its largest lead of the opening half to that point at 31-13.
    Kaznikov hit another 3-pointer, and Julian DeGuzman got a fastbreak layup as Lawrence moved the lead to 21 at 38-17. Lawrence led by as many as 23 points in the first half before settling for a 42-22 advantage at the break.
    Monmouth chipped away at the lead and got the advantage down to 14 at 54-40 with 13:04 left in the game. Back-to-back layups by Sendell and Brandon Danowsli pushed the lead back to 58-40 before Monmouth score the next five points to trim the margin to 58-45.
    That's as close as Monmouth would get as Sendell drained a 3-pointer to start a 14-2 run to put the game away. Sendell had six points during the run, which was capped by Sarancic's three-point play for a 72-47 edge.
    The Scots never got closer than the final margin after that.
    Lawrence returns to action on Wednesday when the Vikings travel to Beloit College.