Jacksonville, IL – The Prairie Fire's bid for a second straight victory was derailed by MacMurray College on November 20.

The Highlanders had a big game shooting the basketball on their home floor and defeated Knox 94-69 in the non-conference contest.

MacMurray (2-1) scored the first four points of the game before the Prairie Fire tied it up at 4-4 and 6-6, and then grabbed a 9-8 lead on a 3-point basket by senior Eric Miller (Villa Park, IL, Willowbrook) at the 14:48 mark.

The Highlanders reclaimed the lead at 10-9.  A pair of free throws by senior David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy/Air Force Academy) put Knox back on top 11-10 six minutes into the contest.

MacMurray's torrid shooting fueled a pair of first half runs that put the game out of reach.

The Highlanders used a 17-5 surge to take their first double-digit lead at 27-16 with 6:08 left in the half.  The Prairie Fire (1-2) trailed 29-20 after Miller sank two foul shots less than a minute later.  The hosts outscored Knox 24-6 the rest of the way to expand the lead to 53-26 at halftime.

MacMurray shot 77 percent (23-of-30) in the half, including 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point line.  Knox connected on 35 percent (9-of-26) of its shots.

The Prairie Fire held a 43-41 scoring edge in the second half, but were unable to put much of a dent in the deficit.

The Highlanders, a member of the 10-team St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) in men's basketball, finished the game shooting 63 percent (39-of-62).

Knox improved to 45 percent in the second half and shot 41 percent (26-of-64) overall.

Two positives in the game for the Prairie Fire were free throws and turnovers.  Knox was 16-of-19 (84 percent) from the foul line and committed only 12 miscues with the basketball.

Jones scored 12 points to go along with six rebounds and three blocks for Knox.  Junior Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City) also scored 12 points and Miller added nine.