Memphis, TN - Knox College had a tough time offensively and lost to Rhodes College 74-41 on Friday night in the Rhodes College Christmas Invitational.

Rhodes (4-4) led throughout but didn't take firm control of the game until the second half.  The 41 points scored by Knox is a season-low.

The Prairie Fire (1-9) trailed by just two points at 9-7 after a basket by senior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) at the 16:34 mark.  Rhodes went on a 9-3 run to take its first double-figure lead, 20-10, with 12:33 before halftime. 

Knox scored six straight points on a pair of 3-pointers by sophomore Armand Stricklin (Lee Summit, MO, Lee Summit West), the second basket with 9:50 to go in the opening half, to get within four at 20-16.

The Lynx scored 10 of the next 12 points to increase the lead to a dozen at 30-18 with 6:20 before the break.  After Rhodes reclaimed a 12 point advantage at 34-22, Stricklin hit another trey to trim the Prairie Fire’s deficit to nine points at 34-25 with 3:00 in the half.

The Lynx scored the final five points of the first half to lead 39-25 at the intermission.

Rhodes held Knox to 16 second half points on 8-of-30 (27%) shooting.  The hosts, meanwhile, shot 54% over the final 20 minutes.  A 48-31 lead by the Lynx with 15:16 to play grew to 27 points (60-33) about five minutes later thanks to a 12-2 offensive spurt.  Rhodes held a 33-point lead (68-35) with 4:00 remaining in the game.

The Prairie Fire shot 18-of-63 (29%) overall and 5-of-23 (22%) from 3-point range.  Knox attempted just four free throws in the game and missed all of them.

The Lynx finished 30-58 (52%) from the floor, made five three-pointers, and sank 9-of-11 free throws.

The loss is the fifth straight for Knox, who was led in scoring by Shaw with 10 points.  Stricklin added nine points on his three, 3-point baskets.  Junior David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) led the Prairie Fire on the glass with nine rebounds.

Knox looks to rebound against York College (PA) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. 

The Spartans (3-6) saw their two-game winning streak come to an end with a 72-64 loss to Kalamazoo College in the first game on Friday night at the Rhodes College Christmas Invitational.

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