Box Score MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The Prairie Fire sliced a 13 point second half deficit to three, but Cornell College made its free throws and held on for a 60-53 Midwest Conference victory on Wednesday.
The Rams built a double-digit lead in the first ten minutes of the game and spent the rest of the opening half fending off attempts by Knox erase it. That scenario played out again in the second stanza.
Cornell (6-13, 5-9) scored eight unanswered points and pull ahead 14-6 with 14:37 left in the first half. Knox got within six on a basket inside by sophomore
Liam Nash (Nashville, TN, University School of Nashville), but two straight field goals gave the Rams an 18-8 advantage at the 10:50 mark.
The Prairie Fire (5-14, 3-11 MWC) offense came to life after Cornell extended the lead to 20-9. First-year
DJ Lewis (Chino Hills, CA, Chino Hills) kicked off an 8-2 run with a drive to the basket. Senior
Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City) connected from 3-point range and Nash followed with a trey to chop the deficit to 22-17 with 8:07 remaining.
The Rams countered with two 3-point baskets sandwiched around a hoop by Murphy for a nine point cushion. Knox got within six at 28-22 on a 3-pointer by first-year
Orlando Brown (Chicago, IL, Hinsdale South) with 5:34 before the break, but Cornell allowed only two field goals – both by first-year
Grant Billimack (Metamora, IL, Metamora) – the rest of the half and surged ahead 36-26.
The Rams scored the first basket of the second half increasing the lead to 12. Brown showed his range by sinking another 3-point basket, and he then split a pair of free throws to bring the Prairie Fire closer at 38-30 with 17:00 to go.
Knox closed the gap to seven when sophomore
Mike Martin (Metamora, IL, Metamora) scored inside. Cornell ran off six consecutive points for its biggest lead of the game, 45-32, with 13:28 left.
The Prairie Fire put together a 9-0 run that began with Billimack scoring in the paint and picked up steam when Nash drilled a 3-point bucket. A jumper by first-year
Caylab Herrera (Middletown, DE, Middletown) kept Knox within four, 45-41, with 9:35 to play.
The Rams, a 63 percent free throw shooting team, canned 7-of-8 foul shots and kept the Prairie Fire scoreless over a nearly four minute stretch and the lead swelled to 52-41.
The back and forth game reached its peak after a 12-4 surge by Knox left Cornell clinging to a 56-53 lead, and the basketball, with 1:06 remaining.
The Prairie Fire got the ball back on a steal by sophomore
Deandre Weathersby (Chicago, IL, Kenwood Academy), but he couldn't get a shot to go down after driving to the basket. The Rams rebounded the miss and called a timeout.
Cornell hit two key free throws for a five point cushion with about 30 seconds on the clock. Knox missed a long jumper while the Rams added a late bucket and held on for the victory.
The Prairie Fire shot 39 percent (21-of-54) overall and went 7-of-18 from behind the 3-point line. The Rams hit just 34.5 percent (19-of-55) of their shots, including 4-of-13 from long range, but grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and held a 35-20 edge on the glass.
The big difference in the game was at the free throw line. Cornell made 18-of-25 foul shots compared to just 4-of-8 at the stripe for Knox.
Brown paced the Prairie Fire with 12 points and three steals, and he added six rebounds to share team-high honors with Murphy and Billimack. Nash reached double-figure points with 11, a season high.
Knox returns to the court Saturday on the road against Lake Forest College at 5:00 p.m. The Foresters (9-9, 8-6 MWC) are one game out of fourth place in the Midwest Conference standings.
