Box Score

Galesburg, IL - The Prairie Fire struggled to make shots against a sticky St. Norbert College defense and lost 76-57 on Saturday at Memorial Gym.

Knox (0-5, 0-4 MWC) grabbed an early lead against the Green Knights (5-2, 3-1 MWC).  Junior Tyler Olson (Marengo, IA, Iowa Valley) made a pair of 3-point shots as the Prairie Fire held a 12-7 advantage 5:00 into the contest.

After a 6-0 St. Norbert run that gave the Knights a 13-12 lead at the 12:47 mark, senior Tanner Carlson (Annawan, IL, Annawan) made a jumper and sank a free throw and junior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) scored in the post to take the lead back at 17-13 with 10:37 to play in the first half.

The Green Knights clamped down on defense and got their offense going, outscoring the Fire 19-9 the rest of the way for a 32-26 halftime lead.

Knox connected on 36 percent and St. Norbert made 40 percent of its shots in the first half. 

The Green Knights made their run one minute into the second half, scoring the first five points for a 37-26 lead.  Olson sank a 3-pointer to trim the Prairie Fire deficit to eight at 37-29, but St. Norbert scored five straight points to reclaim a double-figure advantage, 42-29.

The Knights didn't let up and built the biggest lead of the game at 58-35 at the 11:04 mark.  Knox trimmed the deficit to 14 points on two occasions, but couldn't get any closer.

The Prairie Fire shot 39 percent for the game, including 9-of-28 from 3-point range.  St. Norbert made 52 percent from the floor in the second half and finished at 46 percent.

Olson had 12 points, all on 3-pointers, to lead Knox in scoring. 

Brandon Gries had a double-double for the Green Knights with 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Prairie Fire tries to snap a five-game losing streak Tuesday night at Lawrence University (2-3, 1-1 MWC).  The Vikings, in their last two games, won at Illinois College 76-69 on December 2 and lost 66-65 on December 3 at Lake Forest College.  Lawrence won a pair of close games against Knox last season.  The tip-off in Appleton, Wisconsin is scheduled at approximately 7:00 p.m.

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