Box Score
GALESBURG, Illinois – The Prairie Fire fell behind early against Lawrence University and never recovered in a 76-54 loss in Midwest Conference play on Saturday at Memorial Gym.

The Vikings erased a two point lead by Knox three minutes into the game with an 11-0 run to go up 15-6 with 15:02 left in the first half.  The Prairie Fire followed with a free throw by first-year Caylab Herrera (Middletown, DE, Middletown) and a basket by sophomore Robert Suntken (Naperville, IL, Naperville Central) to stay within six about a minute later.

Lawrence (6-10, 4-7 MWC) scored 12 of the next 13 points, all of them by players off the bench, to extend the lead to 27-10 with 10:47 remaining. 

Knox (4-12, 2-9 MWC) put together an 8-0 run that included two buckets by Herrera, the second one off a feed by first-year DJ Lewis (Chino Hills, CA, Chino Hills) who found his teammate for an open shot that cut deficit to 29-20 with 6:00 left.

The Vikings held the Prairie Fire to three field goals and a free throw the remainder of the half and took a 39-27 lead into the locker room at the break.

Lawrence shot 55 percent (16-of-29) and knocked down five 3-point baskets in the first half.  Knox didn't fare as well, connecting on 36 percent (10-of-28) overall and just 2-of-10 from behind the 3-point line.

The Vikings' reserves played a big role by scoring 21 points in the half.

A jumper by first-year Orlando Brown (Chicago, IL, Hinsdale South) to begin the second half brought the Prairie Fire back to within 10, but Lawrence countered with nine unanswered points for a 48-29 lead with 15:47 to go.

The Vikings pushed the advantage to 66-40 with 8:00 remaining. 

The closest Knox could get from there was 19 points.

Lawrence continued to shoot well in the second half and finished at 55 percent (27-of-49) overall.  The Vikings, ranked second in the Midwest Conference with an average of 9.5 3-point baskets per game, kept pace by drilling 10-of-20 from beyond the arc to go with 12-of-14 from the free throw line.

The Prairie Fire shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the floor, including 5-of-21 from 3-point range, and hit 9-of-17 free throw attempts.  One positive for Knox was a season-low seven turnovers.

Herrera was the only Knox player to score in double-figures.  He finished with 10 points, all of them in the first half, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.  Senior Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City) and sophomore Mike Martin (Metamora, IL, Metamora) added nine points each.

The Prairie Fire host Midwest Conference rival Monmouth College on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.  The Fighting Scots (12-4, 9-2 MWC) lost 76-62 at home to conference leader and nationally ranked St. Norbert College on Saturday.  Monmouth had won eight straight games going into the showdown with the Green Knights.