Mount Vernon, IA – Cornell College avenged an earlier loss and defeated the Prairie Fire 90-72 in Midwest Conference play on Wednesday.

The Rams (7-10, 6-6 MWC) earned a season split with Knox (1-15, 1-10) after falling 84-80 on December 4 at Memorial Gym.

Cornell and the Prairie Fire were tied at 8-8 about 3:00 into the game when the Rams went on a 10-2 run for an 18-10 lead with 14:25 in the opening half.

Knox cut the deficit in half on baskets by senior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) and junior Eric Miller (Villa Park, IL, Willowbrook) a little over a minute later.  Cornell answered with a 15-7 spurt and increased the lead to 33-21 at the 5:19 mark.

The Prairie Fire got within 10 at 33-23 on a jumper by Shaw before the Rams outscored Knox 12-5 over the remaining 4:34 of the half to lead 45-28 at the intermission.

Cornell shot a blistering 62 percent in the first half, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range.  The Prairie Fire connected on 38.5% and 4-of-11 from beyond the arc.

The Rams continued the hot shooting in the second half, when Knox also heated up.

Cornell scored the first two baskets to go up 49-28.   A jumper by junior David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) cut the deficit to 53-34 with 15:53 to go.  The Rams followed with a 9-2 run and a 62-36 lead with 13:45 left to play.

The closest the Prairie Fire could get the rest of the way was 16 points at 71-55 with 8:14 remaining in the contest.

Cornell shot 59% in the second half and finished at 60% while knocking down 11-of-19 shots from 3-point distance.

Knox hit 53% from the floor over the final 20 minutes of the game, when the Rams outscored the Fire 45-44.  Knox wound up shooting 47% overall and made all 12 attempts from the foul line.

Sophomore Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City/Avon) led the Prairie Fire with 20 points, which included four 3-point baskets.  Shaw followed with 15 points and Jones 12 while both had six rebounds to share team-high honors.

Reggie Greenwood drained 5-of-7 shots from 3-point range and scored 21 points for Cornell.

Knox returns home on Saturday to play red hot St. Norbert College at 3:00 p.m.  The Green Knights began this week on a nine-game winning streak that vaulted them into first place in the Midwest Conference.

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