Jacksonville, IL – A big second half lifted Illinois College past the Prairie Fire 78-62 in Midwest Conference play on Wednesday.

Knox (1-12, 1-7 MWC) got off to a fast start and enjoyed its biggest lead at 31-20 on a jumper by sophomore Armand Stricklin (Lee Summit, MO, Lee Summit West) with 6:14 remaining in the first half. 

The Blueboys (7-6, 4-4 MWC) responded with a 10-0 run to pull within a point at 31-30 at the 3:28 mark.  The Prairie Fire outscored IC 8-7 the rest of the half to take a 39-37 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Knox shot 46% to 39% for Illinois College in the first 20 minutes.  The Blueboys stayed close by sinking all 11 free throw attempts.

IC got going in the second half, outscoring the Fire 41-23.

The teams were tied at 44-44 and 47-47 before Illinois College took the lead for good at 49-47 on an offensive put-back with 15:39 left in the contest.  A lay-up by the Blueboys extended the lead to 51-47 before junior David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) converted a 3-point play to cut the deficit to 51-50 with 14:18 remaining.

IC put the contest out of reach with a 19-4 run for a 70-54 lead with a little over 7:00 to play.

Knox managed to get within 14 points, 72-58, on a basket by Stricklin with 3:48 on the clock.

Illinois College shot 51.5% in the second half and 45% overall.  The Prairie Fire cooled off to 29% shooting over the final 20 minutes and finished the game at 38%.

IC was 15-for-15 at the foul line while Knox went 6-for-14 in the second half 11-for-20 in the contest.

Jones led the Prairie Fire with a season-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and three free throws.  Senior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) also scored in double-figures with 14 points and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.

Isaac Grapperhaus had a double-double for Illinois College with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  IC snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 5-2 at home.

Knox looks to get back on track Saturday at home against Carroll University.  The game tips off at 3:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/knox.portal#

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