APPLETON, Wis. -- It was a must-win game for the Lawrence University men's basketball team on Saturday against Illinois College, and the Vikings came through with a 76-56 Midwest Conference victory at Alexander Gymnasium.
    With the victory, the Vikings closed to within a half-game of fourth place in the Midwest Conference, and the top four teams make the league tournament. Lawrence finishes the regular season on Sunday against Monmouth College, and that is another must win if the Vikings want to stay alive.
    Brad Sendell also made history for Lawrence during the game as he passed Chris Braier as the men's career scoring leader. Sendell now has 1,577 points and moved past Braier, a three-time All-American who finished with 1,565 points from 2002-06. 
    Sendell led Lawrence (11-13, 8-7 MWC) and all scorers with 22 points as he went 8-for-13 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. He added five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
    Senior Julian DeGuzman scored a career-high 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor, and he added four rebounds for the Vikings. Kyle Lillwitz came off the bench for the Vikings to add 12 points, and Adnan Sarancic had nine points and a game-high eight rebounds. Brandon Danowski collected a game-high seven rebounds for Lawrence.
    Tre Rogers led Illinois College (12-10, 8-6) with 11 points. 
    Lawrence trailed 25-23 with just under six minutes left in the opening half, but the Vikings went on an 18-5 run to end the half. Lillwitz got the run started with a 3-pointer, Sendell scored seven points and DeGuzman added five, including a 3-pointer to end the half and give Lawrence a 41-30 lead at the break.
    Lawrence's lead fluctuated between 12 and 16 points before the Vikings started to pull away midway through the second half. 
    The Vikings were up 50-38 when Sendell and Matthew Kaznikov hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Kaznikov followed with a jumper, and the Vikings finished a 14-3 burst to take a 64-41 lead with 10:31 left.
    The lead grew to as many as 24 points, and Illinois College didn't get closer than 17 points the rest of the way.  
    Lawrence limited Illinois College to 36.5 percent shooting from the floor, and the Blueboys shot just 30 percent from beyond the arc. Lawrence went 29-for-58 (50 percent) from the floor and shot 39.1 percent (9-31) on 3-pointers.