Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire cashed in from the free throw line and beat Cornell College 84-80 in Midwest Conference play on Tuesday night at Memorial Gym.

Knox outscored the Rams 33-9 at the foul line, including a 27-6 edge in the second half, to snap a four-game slide and give Kevin Walden '01 his first win as the head coach of his alma mater.

Sophomore Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City/Avon) sank 15-of-15 from the stripe for the Prairie Fire, all in the second half.  He’s now second in Knox men’s basketball history for consecutive free throws made in a game.  The record is 19-of-19 by Brad DuBois during the 1997-98 season against Grinnell College.

Cornell (2-3, 1-1 MWC), coming off of a win last Saturday against 2012 Midwest Conference preseason favorite St. Norbert College, got off to a hot start.  The Rams jumped out to a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest.

The Prairie Fire, however, didn’t flinch and scored eight of the next nine points for a 9-8 lead with 14:20 left in the first half.  Knox increased its lead to 16-10 with just under 12:00 in the first half.  The Rams scored on their next possession to get within four (16-12).  The Prairie Fire answered back with a 12-2 spurt for a 28-14 advantage at the 5:41 mark.

Knox on two other occasions led by 14 – at 32-18 (4:09) and 33-19 (3:46) – but Cornell wouldn’t go away.  The Rams closed the half on a run of their own, 13-2, to chop the deficit to 35-32.

Both teams shot well in the opening half.  The Prairie Fire hit 13-of-26 shots (50 percent) and 6-of-10 free throws.  Cornell was 14-of-29 (48 percent) from the floor but just 3-of-9 (33 percent) from the foul line. 

Knox scored the first three points of the second half on free throws by Murphy for a 38-32 lead 90 seconds in.  Cornell scored back-to-back baskets to trim the Fire advantage to 38-36.  A 5-0 Knox run build the lead back to seven at 43-36 with 16:36 remaining.

Cornell used an 8-1 run to force the first tie of the game at 44-44 at the 12:47 mark.  The Prairie Fire regained a four point lead, 50-46 with 10:08 in the game, on two free throws and a bucket by senior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) and a basket by junior Eric Miller (Villa Park, IL, Willowbrook) – who had a big first half with 15 points.

The Rams put together an 8-4 run and tied Knox at 54, then after the Prairie Fire scored five straight points to go up 59-54, Cornell answered back with five unanswered to force yet another tie at 59-59 at the 6:36 mark.

A jumper by Shaw on the next Knox possession put the hosts on top 61-59.  The Rams got a 3-pointer from Anthony Miller with 5:41 in the game for a 62-61 lead, Cornell’s first since leading 8-7.

The Prairie Fire made sure the Rams’ lead was short-lived.  Shaw scored four straight points to give Knox a 65-62 advantage with just under 5:00 to play.

Junior David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) provided a highlight with a dunk followed by a basket with 2:48 in regulation for a 73-66 Prairie Fire lead, part of a 12-4 run. 

Cornell’s Joey Guth hit a 3-pointer at the 1:24 mark to cut the Knox lead to 73-69. 

That’s when Murphy sealed it for Knox by making eight straight free throws, including the last four under heavy pressure after the Rams made it a one-possession game at 80-77 on a Reggie Greenwood 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining.

Murphy gave the Prairie Fire a seven point lead with nine seconds to go.  John Harth connected from 3-point range for Cornell with five seconds to play to account for the final score.

Knox shot 49 percent in the game and hit 33-of-42 free throws.  The Rams connected on 53 percent shooting in the second half and finished at 51 percent overall.  However, Cornell made just 9-of-18 free throws.

The Prairie Fire also did a solid job on the glass, outrebounding the Rams 35-28.

Murphy scored 17 of his game-high 21 points for Knox in the second half.  Shaw also had a big second half with 15 of his 17 points to go along with nine rebounds.  Miller also finished with 17 points for the Prairie Fire.  Jones reached double-figures with 11 points and tied Shaw for team-high honors with nine rebounds.

Guth led five Cornell players in double-figures with 16 points.

Knox tries to make it two straight wins when Beloit College visits Memorial Gym on Saturday for a 3:00 scheduled tip-off.  The game will be streamed live on the Web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/knox.portal#

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