GRINNELL, Iowa — The Knox men's basketball team began play in the Midwest Conference against the frenzied style of Grinnell, and the Pioneers used its full-court pressure defense to hold off the Prairie Fire at Darby Gymnasium on Tuesday night by a final of 107-101. Grinnell (6-2, 1-0 MWC) stole the ball 19 times in forcing 31 turnovers by Knox (2-4, 0-1 MWC), the most for the team in just over two years.
It looked like it would be a long night from the start as the Prairie Fire came out ice cold, hitting just 3-of-12 field goals and 2-of-8 at the line — the latter a recurring theme on this night — over the first eight-plus minutes as Grinnell jumped out to a 21-8 lead. That Pioneer advantage grew to 14 with 7:48 left in the half before Knox tightened its defense and closed the gap to just one by holding Grinnell without a field goal for more than five minutes while hitting eight shots of its own. By the intermission, the difference was only three at 55-52.
In the second stanza, the Prairie Fire stayed within striking distance and finally took their first lead of the night at 73-72 when sophomore Josh Stewart laid in a shot with 12:33 to play. Senior Sean Gallery even boosted the lead to three a few minutes later with a bucket in the paint.
The two sides went back and forth for a while, but after junior Cole Andrews hit one of his two trifectas on the night to tie the game at 88 with just under six minutes on the clock, Grinnell took the lead for good on a Gabe Garcia layup followed by a Jackson Leone 3-pointer. Knox never got the ball back the rest of the game with a chance to tie the score.
- The 31 Knox turnovers led to 35 Pioneer points, with Kai Te Huki making the most of the miscues as he scored a game-high 30 points.
- Five Prairie Fire players scored in double figures on the night, led by junior Cole Andrews who posted his first 20-point game with a career-high 21.
- Junior Russell Wright came off the bench to produce a season-high 16 points, while Gallery added 14, first-year Willie Rogers III had 13 in 14 minutes and senior Aidan Derry chipped in 11 to go with a team-high eight rebounds.
- Speaking of rebounds, the Prairie Fire had a 61-45 edge on the glass,
- Knox was also hurt at the foul line where it converted just 24-of-41 (.585) free throws, compared to 35-of-49 (.714) for host Pioneers.
The Prairie Fire gets a brief respite from conference play this Saturday when they travel to Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for a battle with the Firebirds (4-2) at Tarble Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. with live video and stats available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College athletics.
