Willie Rogers III
Knox College
Willie Rogers III drained four 3-pointers
82
Winner Cornell College CC 12-5,6-2 Midwest Conference
69
Knox KC 4-12,1-6 Midwest Conference
Winner
Cornell College CC
12-5,6-2 Midwest Conference
82
Final
69
Knox KC
4-12,1-6 Midwest Conference
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Cornell College CC 42 40 82
Knox KC 35 34 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men Unable to Win Second Straight in Loss to Cornell College

Sean Gallery scored 14 points, Russell Wright 13 and Willie Rogers III a dozen

GALESBURG, Ill. — Coming off a 66-59 road win at Beloit College on Saturday, Knox College was unable to duplicate that success as visiting Cornell College handed the Prairie Fire an 82-69 defeat in a Midwest Conference matchup at Memorial Gymnasium on Wednesday night. The Rams (12-5, 6-2 MWC) got 30 points and 13 rebounds from Jayden Meeker as they avenged last year's season sweep against Knox (4-12, 1-6 MWC).

Most of the first half was neck-and-neck as the two teams traded leads four times and were tied four more during the first 13 minutes. A 3-pointer by first-year Willie Rogers III (12 points) and a short jumper in the paint by senior Sean Gallery (team-high 14 points) gave the Prairie Fire a 25-24 lead with just under seven minutes until halftime.

The next three minutes, however, belonged to Cornell as it scored 12 straight points, the first four by Meeker at the foul line and five more from Zach Ingle (17 points) for a sudden 36-25 advantage. The lead grew to as many as 13 before Knox gathered some momentum by tallying the final six points before the buzzer, taking a 42-35 deficit into the locker room.

That momentum did not carry over into the second stanza. The Rams came out firing, scoring the first 10 points, seven by Meeker, putting Cornell on top, 52-35. Knox tried to dig out of its hole, closing to within 10 with just under 10 minutes remaining, giving the Prairie Fire faithful some hope. But another Ram run, this time 11 points, dashed those hopes as Cornell cruised to the win from there.

  • The biggest difference on the night, statistically, came at the foul line where the Rams converted 17-of-21 (.810) compared to just 7-of-17 (.412) for Knox.
  • All 12 of Rogers' points came from the perimeter, where he knocked down 4-of-8; the rest of the Prairie Fire team was just 2-of-19 (.105) from long distance.
  • Senior Aidan Derry produced nine points and matched a season-high with seven rebounds.
  • The other Knox player to score in double figures was junior Russell Wright with 13 points on 6-of-7 field goals.

Speaking of avenging, Knox will look to avenge its 75-66 loss from two and a half weeks ago to Lake Forest (7-10, 4-4 MWC) with the rematch at Sport & Recreation Center on Saturday, Jan. 25 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.

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