Complete Results

The men's basketball team shot the ball well, but for the second straight game ran into a Midwest Conference opponent that also shot well and made very few mistakes as Carroll University handed the Prairie Fire its fourth loss in a row.

Normally a team that shoots 53 percent and commits only 13 turnovers puts itself in a good position to win the game.  In fact, the Prairie Fire (1-4, 0-2 MWC) connected on 58 percent (14-of-24) from the floor in the first half, including 3-of-4 from three point range, and made 3-of-4 from the free throw line.  Instead of being on top at halftime, the Prairie Fire trailed Carroll 43-35.

The Fire also shot well the previous night at Ripon College, but the Red Hawks connected for 59 percent in the game and won 97-79.

The Fire led twice in the first half Saturday -- 7-6 at the 16:55 mark and 17-15 with 13:14 to play -- before Carroll tied the game at 17-17 on a jumper by Jake Bast with 12:14 to go before intermission.  The Pioneers scored 22 of the next 30 points to take a 39-25 lead with 4:00 to go in the first half.  The Prairie Fire showed life by putting together a 10-4 run to get within eight points at the half.

Carroll (3-2, 1-1 MWC), like Knox, shot well in the first half.  The Pioneers hit 19 their 35 shot attempts, including a pair of three point baskets, and sank 3-of-4 from the foul line.

The Prairie Fire made a run at the Pioneers in the first five minutes of the second half to cut the Carroll lead to five at 49-44 with 15:09 to play in the game.  The Pioneers answered back with a 13-2 run of their own over a span of 4:30 to take a 62-46 lead that essentially sealed the win.  The Prairie Fire was never able to slice the deficit to single digits the rest of the way.

All five Carroll starters scored in double figures, led by Mitch Tordoff's 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from two-point range along with a three point bucket and a pair of free throws.  Two Pioneers had double-doubles -- Paul Grosshuesch 16 points and 11 rebounds and Andrew Rumler 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Bast added 12 points and Kyle Jones had 10. 

The five starters combined to shoot 29-of-53 from the floor, or 55 percent.  Carroll as a team finished the game at 50.7 percent and had just two turnovers, both by Grosshuesch.

Junior Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia) led the Fire offense with 13 points.  He made three of his team's five three point baskets.  Joining Wetherbee in double figure scoring was senior Matt Goedeke (Yates City, Illinois) with 11 points.  Junior Joe Kozak (Park Ridge, Illinois) chipped in with nine points and six rebounds.

The Prairie Fire has two more road games this week.  Knox gets a shot Wednesday night (7:00 p.m.) at run-and-gun Grinnell College, which is averaging 111.3 points and giving up 103 through the Pioneers' first six games.  Grinnell opened league play on the road against the teams the conference's coaches picked to finish first and second -- St. Norbert College and Ripon College. 

The nationally ranked Green Knights beat the Pioneers 112-85 and Ripon was a 125-113 winner.  Grinnell is now 4-2 overall.

The current road trip for the Prairie Fire ends Saturday at St. Norbert.  The tip-off is scheduled at 3:00 p.m.  The Knights began this week undefeated at 5-0.