Grinnell, IA – Grinnell College got off to a fast start and remained unbeaten at home with a 128-87 Midwest Conference win against the Prairie Fire on Tuesday night.

The Pioneers (16-1, 12-1 MWC) won their fifth straight game overall and moved to 9-0 on the season at Darby Gym after jumping out to an 11-0 lead 1:13 into the game. 

The Prairie Fire (3-15, 2-11 MWC) stopped the run with a basket in the paint by junior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) at the 18:13 mark.  The Pioneers followed with a 26-4 run as the lead ballooned to 37-6 with 10:17 to play in the opening half.

Grinnell took a 67-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.  The Pioneers made 16 3-point baskets in the first half and shot 21-of-47 (45 percent) overall.  Knox was 12-of-27 (44 percent) from the floor and went 9-for-18 from the free throw line.

Grinnell continued its hot 3-point shooting in the second half and held its biggest lead at 115-66 with 8:48 to play.

The Pioneers finished the game 29-of-67 (43 percent) from long distance and 39-of-89 (44 percent) overall while sinking 21-of-27 free throws.

The Prairie Fire shot 21-of-35 (60 percent) in the second half and 33-of-62 (52 percent) for the game.  Grinnell forced Knox into 31 turnovers.

Despite the loss, a Knox player etched his name in the men's basketball record books.  Senior Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia, Woodstock) set a new mark for career 3-point baskets by knocking down three against Grinnell. He now has 187, topping the previous record of 184 3-pointers by Reggie Bowman between 2000 and 2004.

Wetherbee is also closing in on another milestone.  He has 927 career points, needing 73 with five regular season games remaining this season for 1,000 in his career.  Wetherbee finished the game against the Pioneers with 12 points and four steals.

Senior Joe Kozak (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) led the Fire with 17 points.  Also scoring in double figures was first-year guard Armand Stricklin (Lee Summit, MO, Lee Summit West) (13), sophomore David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) (12), and Shaw (11).

The Prairie Fire could have two players reach 1,000 points in their careers by the end of the season.  Kozak, like Wetherbee, is close to the achievement with 922 career points. 

Grinnell’s Jesse Ney made 10 3-point baskets to finish with a game-high 30 points.  The leading scorer in the Midwest Conference, Griffin Lentsch, added 23.

Knox resumes play Friday night at 7:00 at Carroll University.  The Fire will try for a season split with the Pioneers after dropping the first meeting 68-61 on December 3 at home.

Follow Prairie Fire athletics on Twitter