Complete Results

The Prairie Fire men's basketball team got after it defensively and made timely shots, a combination that made it a long night for Eureka College and a win for the hosts Tuesday at Memorial Gymnasium in the season opener for both schools.

It would appear statistically that the Red Devils got the best of the Prairie Fire.  Eureka outshot Knox 46 to 37.5 percent - including a 50 percent effort in the second half - and outrebounded the Prairie Fire 36 to 30.  But that's only part of the story as Eureka committed 22 turnovers to just 10 for Knox, shot 2-of-14 from three point range and made seven fewer free throws in the 75-60 Prairie Fire win.  The victory to kick off the season was the first for the Prairie Fire since the 2003-04 campaign.

After a competitive 10 minutes of basketball in the first half, the Prairie Fire used a 17-11 run to take a 26-16 lead with 5:49 to go before halftime.  Eureka's Mark Lessen made a jumper about a minute later to get his team within eight, but that's as close as the Red Devils would get the rest of the night.  The Prairie Fire put together a 21-4 run that increased the lead to 25 at 47-22 with 30 seconds to play in the half and went into the locker room with a 47-26 advantage at the intermission.

The Red Devils outscored the Prairie Fire 34-28 over the final 20 minutes, but never threatened to get back into the game. 

Three players for the Prairie Fire scored in double figures.  Junior Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia) and senior Matt Goedeke (Yates City, Illinois) scored 15 points apiece.  Wetherbee drained four three point baskets while Goedeke grabbed six rebounds and had five steals.  Sophomore Ian Horvath (Addison, Illinois) also played well offensively, scoring 14 points off the bench.

Jordan Kindred led Eureka with 20 points, Josh Wagner had 14 points and six rebounds and Craig Black had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Prairie Fire plays another home game Thursday night against Central College at 7:30 p.m.  The teams last met during the 2008-09 season, when the Dutch won 81-68 on their home floor in Pella, Iowa.