Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Illinois – The Prairie Fire couldn't recover from a 16-2 run by Illinois College to open the second half and fell 87-64 in Midwest Conference play on Wednesday.

Knox (4-11, 2-8 MWC) was seeking its first sweep of IC since the 2006-07 season after posting a 68-58 win at home in the first meeting between the teams on December 9 at Memorial Gym.  The Blueboys snapped a 13-game slide with the victory.

The Prairie Fire started strong, building a double-figure lead in the first nine minutes of the contest.  Tied 16-16, first-yearDJ Lewis (Chino Hills, CA, Chino Hills) drained a 3-pointer that sparked a 10-0 run – capped by a jumper from sophomore Deandre Weathersby (Chicago, IL, Kenwood Academy) – to give Knox a 26-16 cushion with 11:00 remaining.

IC (2-13, 1-9 MWC) scored seven unanswered points over the next two minutes to cut the deficit to 26-23.  The Prairie Fire weathered the rally and pushed the lead back to nine at 38-29 on a 3-pointer by first-year Caylab Herrera (Middletown, DE, Middletown) at the 4:10 mark.

Illinois College outscored Knox 17-6 the rest of the half to take a 46-44 lead at the break.

Both teams were hot shooting the basketball through the first 20 minutes.  The Prairie Fire hit 18-of-31 (58 percent) shots and IC knocked down 19-of-33 (57.6 percent).  The Blueboys held a slim 8-6 edge in points off turnovers after forcing seven Knox miscues and committing only four.

IC continued where it left off in the second half while the Prairie Fire were unable to keep pace.  The Blueboys scored 16 of the first 18 points and the lead swelled to 62-46 with 13:16 to play.  The lone Knox basket during the run was a jumper by sophomore Liam Nash (Nashville, TN, University School of Nashville) a little over four minutes into the half.  The visitors didn't score again until Lewis knocked down a shot with 12:21 left in the contest.

The Prairie Fire drew within 11 points twice.  Sophomore Danny Mateling (Grayslake, IL, Grayslake North) netted a 3-pointer to make it 62-51 and first-year Orlando Brown (Chicago, IL, Hinsdale South) scored inside to trim the IC lead to 66-55 with 9:01 to go.

Illinois College added to the lead, which ballooned to 77-57 with under six minutes remaining, and shook a losing streak that dated back to the second game of the season.

Knox shot just 29 percent (9-of-31) in the second half and finished at 43.5 percent overall.  The Prairie Fire did not attempt a free throw after halftime.  IC wound up shooting 52 percent and outscored Knox 19-3 from the foul line.

Weathersby and Brown had 10 points each to lead Knox in scoring.  The two combined to score 18 of their 20 points in the first half.  Herrera grabbed a team-high six rebounds to go with seven points while senior Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City) and sophomore Robert Suntken (Naperville, IL, Naperville Central) added eight points apiece for the Prairie Fire.

Knox returns home to face Lawrence University on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.  The Vikings (5-10, 3-7 MWC) lost 72-63 at Ripon College on Wednesday, their second straight defeat and ninth in the last 10 games.