Box Score

Galesburg, IL – Augustana College broke open a close game midway through the first half and defeated the Prairie Fire 88-50 in the home opener for Knox on Saturday afternoon.

The Prairie Fire led 5-4 on a 3-pointer by Eric Miller (Villa Park, IL, Willowbrook) a little over 4:30 into the contest.  The Vikings (4-1), ranked #24 in the latest D3hoops.com top 25 poll, reclaimed the lead at 6-5 on their next possession and never trailed again.

Knox trimmed a nine point Augustana advantage to 16-10 on a 3-point bucket by junior Armand Stricklin (Lee's Summit, MO, Lee's Summit West) with 10:16 left in the first half.  The Vikings followed with a 16-4 run in a three-and-a-half minute stretch to grab their biggest lead, 32-14.

A jumper by Knox senior David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy/Air Force Academy) whittled the deficit to 34-21 at the 1:49 mark before Augie scored four unanswered points for a 38-21 halftime lead.

The Vikings connected on 52 percent (12-of-23) of their shots while holding the Prairie Fire to 33 percent (8-of-24) shooting and forcing 12 turnovers.  The lead could have been larger for Augustana, which made just 10-of-20 free throws in the first half.

The Prairie Fire (1-3) managed to get as close to 15 points early in the second half, the last time at 40-25, following a jumper by Stricklin with 18:49 remaining.

The next five minutes was all Augustana.  The visitors put the game away with a 16-0 surge for a 56-25 lead.

The Vikings shot a sizzling 65 percent (17-of-26) in the second half, including 7-of-9 on 3-point attempts, and finished the game at 59 percent and 11 3-point baskets.

Knox improved to 46 percent (12-of-26) shooting over the final 20 minutes and wound up at 40 percent.

Augustana outscored the Prairie Fire 19-6 from the free throw line, held a 33-22 rebounding advantage, and forced 19 turnovers while committing 12.

First-year Marcellis Davis (Chicago, IL, Curie) scored a season-high 14 points and Jones had 11 points and a team-high five rebounds to lead Knox.

Tayvian Johnson and Mark Roth scored 15 points each for the Vikings.

Photos from the game are available on the Knox College Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/knoxcollege/sets/72157638224490594/

Knox begins Midwest Conference play at home against Cornell College (2-1, 0-0 MWC) on Wednesday, December 4 at 5:30.  The game will be streamed live online at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/knox.portal#/

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