Box Score
Galesburg, Ill. – The Prairie Fire couldn't match the offensive firepower of Grinnell College and fell 115-94 in Midwest Conference play on Wednesday at Memorial Gym.
The Pioneers, the nation's top scoring team, hit 22 shots from 3-point range. Grinnell sank 11 treys in the first half and built a 56-39 halftime lead.
Knox (1-17, 0-13 MWC) started strong, racing out to an 11-5 lead three minutes into the game. The Pioneers went on a 14-3 run that included three 3-pointers to snatch the lead away from the Prairie Fire and go up 19-14 at the 12:12 mark.
Knox closed the gap to one at 19-18 on two free throws by senior
David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy/Air Force Academy) and a jumper by first-year
Deandre Weathersby (Chicago, IL, Kenwood Academy). Grinnell (15-4, 10-4 MWC) built the lead to 33-26 when junior
Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City) and first-year
Mike Martin (Metamora, IL, Metamora) hit jumpers for Knox to trail by just three at 33-30 with 5:05 left in the first half.
The Pioneers started a 14-4 run with five straight points by Luke Yeager and four made free throws by Jack Taylor for their biggest lead of the first half at 47-34 with 2:18 remaining.
A jumper by Jones and a conventional three-point play by Weathersby enabled the Prairie Fire to trim the Grinnell advantage to eight with a little less than 90 seconds before the break.
The Pioneers did exactly what Knox didn't want to happen: ended the half on a run. Grinnell closed with nine straight points for a 56-39 edge at halftime.
The Prairie Fire made one more run at the Pioneers in the second half and closed a 19 point deficit to 69-64 on a basket by Jones with 12:15 left in the game that capped a 25-13 Knox run.
Grinnell rattled off nine straight points on three 3-point buckets by Taylor in less than a minute to build the lead back to 14. The Prairie Fire pulled to within 78-68 on a pair of free throws by Martin near the midway point of the second half.
The Pioneers stretched their lead to 95-75 with 7:23 remaining, and owned a 28 point cushion with 4:27 to play. Knox was unable to get any closer than 18 the rest of the game.
The Prairie Fire shot a sizzling 69 percent in the second half and 56 percent overall. But the 25 turnovers committed by Knox led to 40 points for Grinnell, which finished the game at 39 percent shooting.
Jones had a double-double for the Prairie Fire with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Weathersby poured in a season-high 23 points, senior
Eric Miller (Villa Park, IL, Willowbrook) scored 17 points and Martin added 10.
Taylor led all scorers with 40 points, including nine buckets from 3-point range for Grinnell. Yeager also had a big game for the Pioneers with 24 points.
Grinnell continued its recent run of success against Knox, which hasn't defeated the Pioneers since a 114-113 victory in January of 2006 at home.
The Prairie Fire welcome Lake Forest College to Memorial Gym for another Midwest Conference game on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
