Box Score
Jacksonville, IL - Illinois College is playing its best basketball and is among the hottest teams in the Midwest Conference following a 75-62 win over the Prairie Fire Wednesday night.
The Blueboys continued their home dominance this season by using balanced scoring and timely shooting in the victory.
I.C. (14-6, 10-5 MWC) earned its fourth straight victory, all by an average of more than 10 points per game, and improved to 9-2 at Sherman Gymnasium.
The Blueboys leapfrogged Ripon College for second place in the MWC standings with the latest win and are just one game behind first place St. Norbert College (16-5, 12-4 MWC) in the loss column. The Blueboys play their last two regular season games at home against Monmouth College and Carroll University following road game against resurgent Grinnell College (14-6, 9-6 MWC), the hottest team in the league.
The Prairie Fire (1-19, 0-15 MWC), after suffering a pair of close losses at home last weekend, hung with the Blueboys for the first seven minutes of the first half before the hosts built a double-figure lead and were never threatened.
The teams were tied at 11-11 with 16:36 to play in the first half when Illinois College went on an 11-2 run, which included eight unanswered points, to take a 22-13 lead at the 13:58 mark.
A basket by senior Matt Goedeke (Yates City, Illinois, Farmington) got Knox within seven points at 22-15. The Blueboys responded with a 20-7 run over the next 10 minutes to take their biggest lead of the half at 42-22.
The Prairie Fire cut the deficit to 47-31 at the break when first-year forward Chris McNichols (Skokie, IL, Niles West) connected on a 3-point basket and Goedeke scored on a layup.
IC shot a blistering 57 percent (17-of-30) in the first half. Nine of the 17 field goals were 3-pointers. The Prairie Fire also shot well, making 14-of-28 shots (50 percent), and outscored the Blueboys 18-12 in the paint. Illinois College, however, took advantage of 11 Knox turnovers by converting them into 11 points while committing just five miscues of their own that the Prairie Fire turned into three points.
The Fire tightened the screws on defense in the second half, holding IC to 36 percent shooting and 1-of-12 from 3-point range. Knox hit seven second-half 3-point baskets and finished with a season-high nine in the game, but the Blueboys held a big advantage at the foul line, outscoring the Prairie Fire 13-1 overall.
Knox had just four attempts from the stripe as IC was called for only five team fouls compared to 16 for the Fire.
Knox shot 41 percent in the second half (12-of-29) and 46 percent overall -- not enough to overcome the fast start by the Blueboys. The Prairie Fire outscored I.C. 31-28 in the second half.
Knox committed 23 turnovers in the game while forcing the Blueboys into 11. Junior Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia, Woodstock) provided much of the offense for the Prairie Fire. He led everyone with 23 points, which included 7-of-11 from 3-point range.
Junior Tanner Carlson (Annawan, IL, Annawan), who averaged 17.6 points in his last eight games, was held to five points on 2-of-9 shooting. He still contributed a game-high nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. Goedeke, who was in the starting line-up for Knox, had 12 points and six rebounds.
The Blueboys were led by Jacob Tucker's 19 points. Craig Balls added 16 points and seven rebounds and Kewanee Wethersfield graduate Nathan Kohler also reached double figures with 13 points.
The Prairie Fire has another tough task ahead when Grinnell College visits Memorial Gym Monday night for a game that was originally scheduled for February 1, but was postponed because of a winter storm.
The Pioneers are tied with Lawrence University and Carroll University for the fourth and final spot in the Midwest Conference Tournament. Grinnell, the highest scoring team in the MWC averaging 109.2 points per game, has won six straight. The Pioneers have also been able to win this season scoring below the century mark. In fact, Grinnell has been held to 79 and 73 points in the last two games but won both of them against St. Norbert College (79-65) and Monmouth College (73-67).
The game Monday night at Memorial Gym tips off at 7:00. The teams will take part in the "Play for the Cure" initiative to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. Both teams will wear pink tee shirts during warm-ups in recognition of the fundraiser.
