GALESBURG, Ill. — Much like the women's game before it, the Knox men's basketball team found itself tied with Midwest Conference foe Illinois College entering the intermission at Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. But the men suffered an inverse fate as the women, falling by 15 points to the visiting Blue Boys (11-5, 4-3 MWC), who knocked off the Prairie Fire (3-11, 0-5 MWC) by a final of 82-67 on the strength of Buzz Ritzel's career-high 35 points.

The Blue Boys came into the game with the best defense in the league, but Knox gave them fits in the opening stanza. The Prairie Fire knocked down 16-of-30 field goals (.533), including 7-of-15 (.467) from downtown, in tallying 45 points, led by senior Sean Gallery with 13 and first-year Daunte Smith who sank 3-of-4 from the perimeter.

But Illinois College kept pace thanks to accuracy at the foul line (perfect 13-of-13) and hitting the offensive glass, outscoring Knox in second-chance points by a 12-2 margin. Ritzel led the Blue Boys with 15 points at the break with teammate Ty Lenhardt (14) close behind.

In the second half, Illinois College scored the first eight points — five from Ritzel — and never relinquished the lead. The Prairie fire did close the gap back to two, 59-57, on a Brandon Cooley bucket in the paint with 12:34 to play, and the deficit was still just five, 66-61, following a Cole Andrews 3-pointer with just over nine minutes remaining.

But Ritzel could not be slowed as he scored the next nine points for the Blue Boys to make it a 10-point game with three minutes on the clock. And the Illinois College defense stepped up down the stretch, holding Knox to a mere four points over the last six-plus minutes to secure the victory.

• Gallery concluded the evening with 22 points on 5-of-7 from the floor, 2-of-3 from long range and 10-of-14 at the charity stripe, not to mention a team-high four assists and a pair of steals.
• Knox set a season low with just 12 turnovers but was outrebounded (39-36) for just the third time this year.
• Smith was the only other Prairie Fire player to reach double figures with 14 points thanks to draining 4-of-5 behind the arc.
• After shooting that solid 53.3 percent on field goals in the first half, Knox was just 7-of-26 (.269) after the break.
• Illinois College was won the last 10 games in the series and owns a 57-44 lead all-time.

Knox will continue to search for its first Midwest Conference victory with its next game at Beloit College (6-9, 2-5 MWC) on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Flood Arena at 3 p.m. A live stream and stats will be available for fans to keep up with the action through the official website of Knox Athletics, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.