Box Score
Carroll University and Ripon College got all they wanted and more from a hungry Prairie Fire men's basketball team, which lost a heartbreaker to the Pioneers and a game that went down to the wire against the Redhawks last Friday and Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium.
Perhaps the most difficult defeat came at the hands of Carroll, which escaped by hitting one shot with three seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime and sinking the game winner just inside the half-court line at the buzzer for a 70-67 win in OT.
The hero for Carroll (10-9, 8-6 MWC) was reserve guard Mitch Tordoff, who tallied all 12 of his points in the second half and overtime. His first big basket, a three-pointer, erased a 56-53 Prairie Fire lead and forced the extra session. His game-winning three-point shot broke the 10th tie of the contest and sent the Pioneers home with the improbable victory. Tordoff took just one shot in five minutes of action in the first half before canning 4-of-7 over the final 25 minutes.
The Pioneers ended a two-game losing streak with the victory. Carroll had been beaten soundly in the previous games -- a 99-78 loss at home to Beloit College and an 85-65 setback at Lawrence University. The Pioneers are still clinging to hopes of making the Midwest Conference Tournament. Carroll is currently in a three-way tie for the fourth and final spot with resurgent Grinnell College and Lawrence.
The first half featured several runs. The Pioneers scored 12 of the first 16 points of the game to take an eight point lead at the 14:09 mark. The Prairie Fire exploded for 13 straight points over the next six minutes for a 17-12 advantage. Carroll took advantage of five missed shots and a pair of turnovers by the Prairie Fire over the next five minutes by scoring six unanswered points for an 18-17 lead with 2:53 remaining in the half.
Carroll took a 21-20 lead into the locker room at halftime after both teams played solid defense and couldn't get much going offensively. Knox shot 6-of-21 (29 percent) from the floor and Carroll was 7-of 22 (32 percent) in the first 20 minutes of action.
The second half was much different as both teams got into a rhythm offensively.
The Pioneers opened up a five-point lead at the 13:50 mark when Tordoff made his first shot of the game, then extended the advantage to six at 40-34 on a bucket by Taylor Jannsen with 8:39 left in regulation. A 12-6 run by the Prairie Fire forced the sixth tie of the game (46-46) with 2:56 to play.
Knox appeared to be on its way to snapping a 17-game losing streak when junior guards Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia) and Tanner Carlson (Annawan, Illinois) hit shots to give their team a 50-46 lead with 54 seconds left in the game and forced Carroll to take a timeout. Both squads made four-of-four free throws over the next 28 seconds, keeping the Prairie Fire's four point lead in tact at 54-50 with 26 seconds to go.
Carroll's Kyle Jones hit a long and heavily contested three-point basket with 14 seconds left to cut the Fire lead to one (54-53). The Pioneers fouled Carlson, who made both of his free-throws for a 56-53 Knox lead with eight seconds left. Tordoff then tied the game by hitting another long three-point basket with a man in his face. A long shot attempt by Carlson missed the mark for Knox, forcing the five minute overtime period.
The Prairie Fire shot 52 percent in the second half and sank 9-of-11 free throws. Carroll responded to cold first-half shooting by hitting 50 percent in the second half and 4-of-5 free throws. The Pioneers connected on three shots from long distance to one for Knox.
Wetherbee drained a three-point basket to start the scoring in overtime, putting Knox on top 59-56. The Pioneers cut the lead to 59-58 on a pair of free throws before Prairie Fire sophomore Ian Horvath (Addison, Illinois) scored his only basket of the game with 3:25 to play in OT and allowed Knox to reclaim a three point lead at 61-58.
A jumper by Jannsen with eight seconds to play gave Carroll a 67-65 lead. Prairie Fire first-year forward David Jones (Denver, Colorado) followed with a score four seconds later to force the 10th tie of the game at 67-67 and seemingly a second overtime.
That's when Carroll inbounded the ball to Tordoff, who dribbled up court heavily defended, stepped across the half-court line and broke the Knox Faithful's hearts with his shot that found the back of the net as the buzzer sounded.
The loss was the third in overtime this season for the Prairie Fire.
Carroll made all five of its shots in overtime and finished the game at 47 percent while making 14-of-17 free throws. Knox hit four-of-seven shots in the extra period and 43 percent overall. The Fire knocked down 17-of-23 from the foul line.
Carlson led Knox with 22 points and six assists. Wetherbee added 15 points.
Jannsen paced the Pioneers with 15 points, Paul Grosshuesch scored 14 and Jones chipped in with 12.
