Box Score ROCK ISLAND, Illinois – The Prairie Fire were unable to recover from a big first half run by Augustana College and fell 86-61 Saturday night.
The Vikings (5-0), the #1 ranked team in the latest
d3hoops.com top 25 poll, held a slim 10-8 lead after a 3-point basket by first-year
DJ Lewis (Chino Hills, CA, Chino Hills) of Knox at the 16:36 mark. Augustana pulled away with a 20-2 surge to stretch the lead to 30-10 with 8:45 remaining in the first half.
Augustana, playing their home opener, led by as many as 28 points in the opening stanza and held a comfortable 51-25 advantage at the break.
The Prairie Fire (1-4) struggled to make shots in the first half against the Vikings, connecting on 9-of-31 (29 percent) from the floor compared to 20-of-32 (62.5 percent) for Augustana. The Vikings also held the edge in points off of turnovers (9-2), second chance points (11-5), and bench points (14-0) through the first 20 minutes.
The Prairie Fire played better in the second half and outscored Augustana 36-35.
The Vikings grabbed their biggest lead of the game, 62-30, with 17:10 to play. A 3-point play by first-year
Caylab Herrara (Middletown, DE, Middletown) with 10:29 remaining capped a 17-8 Knox run that sliced the deficit to 70-47. Augustana answered with eight straight points to thwart any hopes of a big comeback by the Prairie Fire.
Knox found its shooting touch in the second half, sinking 12-of-24 (50 percent) shots - including 7-of-15 (47 percent) from behind the 3-point line - and 5-of-5 free throws. The Prairie Fire finished the game shooting 38 percent overall, 9-of-22 from 3-point range, and 10-of-12 from the foul line.
The Vikings wound up shooting nearly 60 percent overall, including 6-of-15 (40 percent) from long range, and hit 12-of-20 free throws.
Augustana entered the game with Knox averaging 76 points and shooting 54 percent while allowing 58.5 points and 36.5 percent shooting by the opposition. The Vikings scored 91 points in their last two wins against Thomas Moore College and Rust College.
Sophomore
Mike Martin (Metamora, IL, Metamora) led Knox with 13 points and five rebounds and Herrara had 11 points off the bench. The two combined for 9-of-15 shooting and 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Sophomore
Robert Suntken (Naperville, IL, Naperville Central) also reached double figures with 10 points to go with four rebounds and four assists.
The Prairie Fire gear up to play at Midwest Conference rival Monmouth College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Fighting Scots (2-2, 1-1 MWC) snapped a two-game slide with a 119-114 win at Grinnell College on November 25.
