Complete Results
A late charge by the Prairie Fire men's basketball team erased a double-digit deficit, but Lawrence University answered right back over a three minute stretch to win its fourth game in a row and 10th straight against Knox 74-69 Wednesday night at Memorial Gym.
The game was the first at home for the Fire since a 76-73 setback November 24 against Rockford College that was followed by a four-game road trip against Midwest Conference schools.
The Prairie Fire (1-7, 0-5 MWC), and specifically junior forward Joe Kozak (Park Ridge, Illinois), came out firing. Kozak hit two straight three point baskets early on and senior forward Matt Goedeke (Yates City, Illinois) added a bucket to give Knox an 8-4 lead with 16:35 to play in the first half.
The Fire extended the lead to five at 21-16 at the 8:16 mark when Lawrence (4-2, 3-0 MWC) answered with nine consecutive points to grab its first lead of the game at 25-21 with 6:03 to go before halftime. Kozak drained another long range shot, followed by another Viking run that gave them a 31-25 lead at the 4:32 mark. Lawrence led by as many as eight points in the first half (37-29) before the Prairie Fire scored the last five points to cut the deficit to 37-34 at the break.
The Vikings built an 11 point lead, 53-42 at 13:48, following a 16-8 run that Knox would cut to five with a 6-0 run of its own at the 12:25 mark and the score 53-48. Lawrence then scored eight straight points -- a jump shot and a three point basket by Connor Klusendorf and a three by Tyler Crisman -- for a 61-48 lead.
The Prairie Fire scrapped and scored 12 unanswered points between 9:41 and 4:25 to slash the Viking lead to 61-60. However, Knox came up empty on its next four possessions while Crisman hit another three point shot sandwiched between baskets by 6'8" center Erik Borresen and Chris Siebert for a 68-61 Lawrence advantage that the Prairie Fire could never overcome.
Knox made it a one possession game after Kozak was fouled on a three point shot and made all three free throws for a 72-69 Lawrence lead with nine seconds to play. The Fire was forced to foul quickly on the inbounds pass, and Siebert did his part by making two free throws to ice the game.
Lawrence, which came in shooting over 50 percent, made 29-of-62 to finish at 47 percent. The Vikings connected on 8-of-20 three point baskets and committed only nine turnovers. All five Lawrence starters scored in double figures, led by Jon Mays with 19 points. Crisman added 17, Klusendorf 15 and 10 rebounds, Borresen 13 points and 11 boards and Siebert had 10 points and seven assists. The starters each played more than 30 minutes in the game.
The Prairie Fire shot 43 percent, sinking 25-of-58 from the floor. The team was especially good from long range, connecting on 8-of-16, and canned 11-of-13 shots from the foul line. Knox outrebounded Lawrence 37-31 and committed 15 turnovers.
Kozak had a big night offensively with 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-4 from three point range and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. He also led his team with eight rebounds. Junior guard Tanner Carlson (Annawan, Illinois) chipped in with nine points and eight assists while Goedeke and junior guard Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia) scored eight points apiece.
The Fire heads next to Hawaii for a pair of games December 19. The first is against Edgewood College of Madison, Wisconsin at 2 a.m. Central time and the second is against the University of Dubuque at 10 p.m. Central time.
