MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The Knox College men's basketball team could not overcome the energy of host Cornell College on Saturday afternoon with the school not only celebrating their seniors but also hoping to quality for the Midwest Conference Tournament as the Rams (15-10, 9-7 MWC) defeated the Prairie Fire (4-21, 1-15 MWC) by a final of 98-68 at the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
Cornell College's victory ended up being moot in relation to the tournament as Lake Forest College won a close game at Beloit College to clinch the fourth and final spot.
Knox could simply not get its offense going, hitting just one of its first 19 3-point attempts, and shooting 32.9 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the foul line for the game.
The Rams, meanwhile, knocked down 14 triples and shot 50.8 percent (32-of-63) on field goals for the contest, led by Zach Ingle's 21 points and 20 more from Caleb Leslie.
For the first nine minutes, Knox struggled mightily to find the bottom of the net, hitting just 2-of-19 field goals (.105) as Cornell College jumped out to a 26-8 lead. Shots started to fall during the final five minutes before the intermission as the Prairie Fire sank five of their last nine field goals, but they couldn't make up any ground as the Rams took a 47-32 lead into the locker room.
But with consecutive 3-pointers to start the second stanza, the Rams quickly dashed any hopes of a comeback. The lead never dropped below 20 points over the final 15 minutes.
- Knox's leading scorers were junior Carl Dortch and sophomore Josh Stewart with nine points apiece, though 13 different players did score for the Prairie Fire.
- Knox had a 53-40 edge on the glass thanks to 23 offensive rebounds, and junior Russell Wright led all players with a season-high 12 boards.
- One game after turning the ball over a season-low 10 times, the Prairie Fire one-upped themselves with only nine miscues.
- Knox lost its last 10 games of the season.
