Box Score
Galesburg, IL - Lake Forest College is the latest team to escape with a win in dramatic fashion against the Prairie Fire.
The Foresters (12-10, 10-7 MWC) scored a basket off a free throw they missed to pull out a 64-63 victory Wednesday night at Memorial Gym on Senior Night.
The loss was the Prairie Fire's seventh this season by five or fewer points, the fourth by three points or less -- including three in overtime -- and two defeats on made baskets near or at the final buzzer.
Despite those heartbreaking losses prior to the game against Lake Forest, Knox and its four seniors making their final appearances at home: Matt Goedeke (Yates City, Illinois, Farmington), Peter Cain (Redlands, California, Redlands), Roger Ortiz (Houston, Texas, Saint Thomas), and Courtney Jude (Country Club Hills, IL, Tinley Park), played well against the Foresters.
LFC defeated the Fire 70-59 in the first meeting between the teams on January 11 and entered Wednesday night's contest on a three-game winning streak.
After six lead changes, the Prairie Fire (1-21, 0-17 MWC) scored six straight points to take a 15-11 lead with 8:20 to play in the first half. Lake Forest responded by scoring nine of the next 11 points for a 20-17 advantage at the 2:33 mark and extended it to 25-19 at halftime.
Knox shot 45 percent (9-of-20) in the first half but committed 12 turnovers. The hosts were able to hang around by holding the Foresters to a chilly 38.5 percent shooting (10-of-26) in the opening half and 1-for-2 from the foul line.
Lake Forest, however, started the second half with a flurry.
Nate Bateman sank a 3-point shot that was part of a 10-5 run to give the Foresters a 35-25 lead with 16:26 to play. The Fire cut the deficit to seven (38-31) before Chris Roets connected from long range to again to put his team up by double digits at 41-31 at the 14:27 mark.
The Prairie Fire, however, refused to go away and put together a 25-9 run that produced a 56-49 lead with 6:38 left in the game. In addition, the Foresters' primary post threat, Travis Clark, had to return to the floor following a short rest after he was whistled for his fourth foul.
Lake Forest answered right back with baskets on four consecutive possessions, including three straight by Jeff Beck, to reclaim the lead at 57-56 at the 3:57 to play.
Junior Tanner Carlson (Annawan, IL, Annawan) drilled a 3-point bucket and Goedeke made a jumper from the right baseline to put Knox back on top 61-57 with 2:09 to go. Lake Forest College's Chris Roets made a contested 3-point shot one minute later to slice the Prairie Fire lead to 61-60.
Knox was unable to score on its next possession, and Beck struck again by draining a jump shot with 17 seconds left in the game to put Lake Forest back on top 62-61.
Carlson, who carried the offensive load for the Fire in the second half, hit what appeared would be the game-winning shot with 15 seconds on the clock for a 63-62 Knox lead.
On the Foresters’ final possession of the game, Beck drove to the basket and was the beneficiary of a controversial foul call, putting him at the free throw line for a one-and-one opportunity with four seconds to play. Beck missed the foul shot, but Roets got inside, grabbed the offensive rebound, and scored with two seconds on the clock.
The Prairie Fire was forced to go the full length of the floor, but the potential game-winning shot from near half court fell short.
Carlson led the Fire -- which shot 55 percent in the second half and 51 percent overall -- with 19 points, all in the second half. Sophomore Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) also scored in double figures with 10. Knox committed just three turnovers after halftime while forcing Lake Forest into 17 total miscues.
Beck paced the Foresters on offense with 14 points. Bateman added 12 off the bench while Clark and Roets had 10 apiece. Lake Forest, like Knox, shot well in the second half -- 52 percent -- and finished at 46 percent overall. The Foresters made nine 3-point baskets in the game to five for Knox. The Prairie Fire outscored LFC from the foul line 8-3.
Knox will try to bounce back against rival Monmouth College (3-19, 1-16 MWC), which has lost 11 straight games ahead of Saturday's season finale for both teams at Glennie Gymnasium at 5:00. The Prairie Fire is looking to avenge an 88-77 loss to the Fighting Scots on January 8 at Memorial Gym.
Record Watch:
Junior sharpshooter Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia) is on the verge of breaking the all-time Knox College men's basketball free throw percentage record for a season. Wetherbee has made 42-of-43 (97.7%) from the foul line with one game to go. The current record is held by Brad DuBois, who shot 92.3 percent from the stripe during the 1996-97 season. The minimum number of attempts to qualify for the record is 40.
