Beloit, WI. - The Prairie Fire struggled to make shots and lost its second straight Midwest Conference game on Friday night at Beloit College.

Knox (3-10, 2-6 MWC) started well, outscoring the Buccaneers 11-4 in the first 4:41 of the game.  Beloit (4-7, 3-4 MWC) answered with a 12-0 run for a 16-11 lead at the 10:48 mark.

The Prairie Fire, in a half full of runs, scored the next eight unanswered points to grab an 18-16 lead with 7:38 to play.  Beloit scored the next seven points in a two minute span to reclaim a five point advantage at 23-18.

Knox trimmed the Beloit lead to one on three different occasions, the third time at 28-27 following a 3-point basket by senior Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia, Woodstock) with 2:27 to go.  The Fire had a chance to take the lead when first-year Armand Stricklin (Lee Summit, MO, Lee Summit West) stole the ball, but his 3-point attempt missed and Beloit closed the half with six straight points to lead 34-27 at the break.

Knox made 10-of 26 shots (38.5 percent), including 1-for-8 from 3-point range, while sinking 6-of-8 free throws.  Beloit shot 14-of-31 (45 percent) from the floor while making a pair of 3-pointers and going 4-for-6 from the foul line.

The Bucs took their first double-digit lead of the game at 38-27 on a basket by Tyler Butke at 18:44.  A layup by Knox sophomore David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) cut the lead to 38-29 before Beloit’s Travis Towns scored in the paint with 16:42 in the game to put the Bucs up 40-29.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by senior Tanner Carlson (Annawan, IL, Annawan) and first-year Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City/Avon) sliced the Beloit advantage to 40-35 with a little over 16:00 to play.  Knox got as close as four at 50-46 with 8:58 remaining when Beloit stretched the lead to 61-50 with 3:26 in the game following an 11-4 run.

The Prairie Fire made it a two-possession game at 65-59 with 32 seconds to play.  The Bucs sank a pair of free throws on their next possession while Knox missed two 3-point attempts.   Butke completed Beloit’s scoring by making a layup with eight seconds to go.

The win was the fourth straight by the Buccaneers over the Prairie Fire.

Knox shot 12-of-36 (33 percent) in the second half and 35.5 percent overall.  The Fire was 4-for-22 from long distance and made 11-of-14 free throws.

Beloit, after shooting 13-of-26 (50 percent) in the second half, finished the game at 47 percent.  The Bucs, like the Prairie Fire, made four 3-pointers and 11 free throws.  Knox held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding Beloit 42-32.  Sixteen of the boards were on the offensive end.

Junior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) had his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.  Carlson also scored 12 points while dishing out five assists. Senior Joe Kozak (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) reached double-figures as well with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds.

Butke scored a game-high 18 points for Beloit.

The Prairie Fire plays at St. Norbert College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.  The Green Knights (8-5, 5-3 MWC) have won two straight games following Friday night’s 79-70 home victory against Illinois College.

Knox is trying to avoid being swept this season by SNC.  The Knights defeated the Prairie Fire 76-57 on December 10 at Memorial Gym.

The game will be streamed live on www.pennatlantic.com.  Live stats will also be available at http://www.snc.edu/athletics/teamfiles/livestats/xlive.htm.

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