LISLE, Ill. - The Benedictine University men's basketball team kicked off the season in style with a 69-63 home win over Knox College on Tuesday night.

The Eagles netted the first four points of the game before allowing Knox to tally six straight and jump ahead. Benedictine closed the half on a 10-2 run to take control at the break 32-22, shooting 50 percent.

The lead quickly extended to 14 at the onset of the second but Knox did not go away. A 16-4 run over five minutes pulled the visitors to within 46-43 with 8:27 to play. Benedictine quickly responded with six straight sparked by a triple from freshman Matthre Mackowiak and a conventional three-point play from Andy Crutchfield. Treys on consecutive possessions from Dario Jokic and Raphael Oglesby stretched the advantage to 11 points with 3:54 to go.

Knox (0-1) pulled to five points on two more occasions late but could not surpass Benedictine. The contest featured four ties and four lead changes.

The Eagles shot 42 percent from the floor in the game and were led by Nate Green, who scored a game best 23 points. 18 of Green's points came in the first half. Green was the lone player in double figures but Michael Woolf in his Benedictine debut notched eight points to go with nine rebounds. Matt Mackowiak tallied nine in his college debut off the bench. Raphael Oglesby kicked in eight in a reserve role while Andy Crutchfield started and scored eight as well.

Knox held a rebounding edge at 46-39 and shot 38 percent on the night. Lucas Shaw scored 18 points and grabbed a game high 19 rebounds including nine on the offensive glass.

Benedictine (1-0) continues a busy opening week tomorrow night with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill.