Lake Forest, IL – The Prairie Fire got off to a good start, but Lake Forest College broke open a close game with a big first half run and posted a 64-50 win at home on Wednesday night.

The Midwest Conference champion Foresters (20-2, 16-1) won their fifth straight game.  Lake Forest’s only league loss was a 98-92 setback against second place Grinnell College at home on January 28.

Knox (3-19, 2-15 MWC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a 3-point basket by junior Tyler Olson (Marengo, IA, Iowa Valley) less than a minute into the contest.  The first 4:30 minutes included a pair of three point leads by the Prairie Fire and four ties – the last one at 11-11.

Knox took what turned out to be its last lead of the game at 13-11 on a layup by junior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) at the 15:16 mark of the first half.  A 3-pointer by Brian Madson on the next Lake Forest possession gave the hosts a 14-13 advantage five minutes into the opening half.  The Foresters would never trail in the game again.

Lake Forest led 21-17 with 11:55 remaining before the Fire answered with baskets by Shaw and senior Joe Kozak (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) to force a 21-21 tie.

The turning point in the game was a 3-pointer by Jeff Beck at the 7:16 mark that fueled a 12-0 surge by the Foresters and a 33-21 advantage with 3:12 before halftime.

A pair of free throws by Kozak sliced the deficit to 10 at 33-23, but Travis Clark scored two straight baskets to close out the half and give the hosts a 37-23 lead at the break.

Knox made 9-of-27 (33 percent) shots in the first half, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range, and knocked down all four free throw attempts.

Lake Forest was 15-of-34 (44 percent) shooting and 4-for-13 from behind the 3-point arc.  The Foresters made good on all three free throw attempts in the half.

Knox on three occasions cut the Lake Forest lead to 10, the last time at 47-37 with 11:21 to play.  The Foresters answered back each time, preventing the Prairie Fire from chipping away any further at the LFC lead. 

The teams played even in the second half with both scoring 27 points.

The Foresters led by as many as 17 at 55-38 with 8:47 left in the contest.  The Prairie Fire refused to quit and scored six straight points over the next 1:44.  First-year guard Armand Stricklin (Lee Summit, MO, Lee Summit West) had five of the points to pull the Fire within 55-44.

Knox shot 9-of-30 (30 percent) in the second half and finished the game 18-of-57 (32 percent) from the floor against the top rated defense in the Midwest Conference.  The Prairie Fire connected on 11-of-15 free throw attempts.

The Knox defense held Lake Forest to just 10-of-31 (32 percent) shooting in the second half, including 0-for-10 from 3-point range, and 25-of-65 (38.5 percent) overall.  The Foresters wound up making 10-of-11 free throws.

Shaw led the Prairie Fire with 18 points.  Kozak was the next high scorer with nine points.

Clark had a big game for Lake Forest with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Knox concludes the season Saturday at home against rival Monmouth College (6-16, 4-13 MWC).  The Fighting Scots snapped a six game losing streak with a 67-64 win at home on Wednesday against Illinois College.

The Prairie Fire, with a win, would sweep the season series against Monmouth.  Knox posted a 76-66 victory over the Scots on January 7 at Glennie Gym.  The Prairie Fire has won the last two games the teams have played, both of them in Monmouth.

Knox will recognize its five seniors on the team and their parents right before the tip off of the game against the Fighting Scots at Memorial Gym.  The scheduled start time is at 5:00.

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