Galesburg, IL – Benedictine University used late runs in each half and downed the Prairie Fire 85-78 on Tuesday night at Memorial Gym.

The Prairie Fire (1-8) got off to a good start and led 16-13 on a basket by first-year Charlie Harned (Webster Groves, MO, Clayton) with 12:15 in the first half.  The Eagles (3-8) scored six straight points before sophomore Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City/Avon) hit one of his nine 3-point baskets to force a 19-19 tie at the 9:41 mark.

Murphy made 9-of-18 shots from 3-point range, tying the Knox men’s basketball record also held by Reggie Bowman.  Bowman had nine treys twice, during the 2001-02 season against Lake Forest College and the 2002-03 campaign against Grinnell College.

Benedictine answered Murphy’s basket with a 7-0 run for a 26-19 advantage with 8:39 before the break.

Knox trimmed the deficit to 32-31 with 3:48 remaining before the Eagles closed on a 10-2 spurt and led 42-33 at halftime.

Benedictine shot 51% in the first half compared to 33% for the Prairie Fire.  Knox outscored the Eagles 15-9 from behind the 3-point line while Benedictine had a 5-0 advantage from the foul line.

The Eagles extended their lead to 47-33 by scoring the first five points of the second half.  The Prairie Fire fought back and scored 10 unanswered points to get within 47-43 with 15:25 to play.

Benedictine reclaimed a double-figure lead at 56-45 with 12:15 in the game following a 9-2 run.  The lead grew to 63-50 two minutes later.  Knox, however, refused to go away and used a 15-7 run to cut the Eagles’ advantage to 70-65 with 6:14 to go.

Benedictine, like in the first half, went on another late run – 9-0 – to lead 79-65 at the 1:49 mark.

The Prairie Fire trailed 80-74 with 29 seconds remaining but couldn’t get any closer.

The Eagles shot 51% overall, including 7-of-16 (44%) from 3-point range, and made 14-of-22 (64%) free throws.

Knox found its shooting eye in the second half, connecting on 52% and netting 7-of-12 (58%) 3-pointers.  The Prairie Fire finished 12-of-29 (41%) from long distance and shot 41% overall.  A major obstacle was the foul line.  Knox entered the game shooting just under 65% from the stripe but wound up 8-of-21 (38%) to fall to 61.5% on the season.  Opponents are shooting 68% from the free throw line.

Benedictine held the edge on the glass 44-36.  The Fire took good care of the basketball, committing only 10 turnovers -- a season-low.  The Eagles turned the ball over 15 times in the game.

Murphy scored a career-high 31 points for Knox.  He also had six rebounds and two steals.  Junior David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) added season-highs of 14 points and nine rebounds.

Michael Woolf was the high scorer for Benedictine with 25 points.  He dropped in 20 points in the second half.

The Prairie Fire travels to Memphis, Tennessee to play in the Rhodes College Christmas Invitational.  Knox takes on host Rhodes (3-4) on Friday (December 21) at 7:00 p.m.  The Lynx, a member of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA), have won two of their last three games.  The latest victory was 82-60 against Mississippi College at home on December 14.

The Prairie Fire plays its second and final game of the tournament on Saturday (December 22) against Kalamazoo College (2-7) or York College (3-5) at 1:00 or 3:00 p.m.  Kalamazoo (MI) and York (PA) meet on Friday at 5:00 p.m. prior to the game between Knox and Rhodes.  Kalamazoo enters the tournament on a six-game losing streak while York has won two straight.

Rhodes College will provide live stats throughout the tournament at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rhodes/mbball/scoreboard.aspx

Live video will also be available FOR A FEE.  The video link with the pricing options is http://www.rhodeslynx.com/sports/2010/10/20/GEN_1020102926.aspx?id=390

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