GALESBURG, Ill. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team scored 10 unanswered points midway through the second half Saturday and surged on to a 71-57 Midwest Conference victory over Knox College.
Jamie Nikitas led three Lawrence players in double figures with 22 points. Nikitas also had game highs with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Troy Miller added 17 points and four assists for the Vikings (8-10, 5-8 MWC) as he hit 5-of-8 from from 3-point range. Jeremy Stephani chipped in with 15 points for the Vikings and knocked down a trio of 3-pointers.
Miller, Stephani and Nikitas combined to go 11-for-21 from beyond the arc.
Braden Adams scored 17 points to pace the Prairie Fire (1-16, 0-12).
Lawrence led by just two at 42-40 when Nikitas drained a 3-pointer with 11:57 remaining. Lawrence’s Evan McLaughlin then stole the ball, was fouled and made one free throw for a 46-40 lead.
After Knox missed a jumper, Stephani buried a 3-pointer for a 49-40 edge. Knox turned the ball over on its next trip, and Nikitas followed with another 3-pointer to put the Vikings up 52-40 with 10:07 remaining.
George Mosialos hit a jumper for the Prairie Fire and Robert Suntken followed with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 52-45, but Miller responded for the Vikings. Miller hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push Lawrence’s lead to 58-45 with 7:07 left.
Knox got no closer than nine points after that. The Prairie Fire got the lead down to 67-57 with 2:04 left, but Knox missed its final five shots from the floor after that.
Lawrence held Knox to just 39 percent shooting from the floor for the game, and the Vikings feasted on the foul line. Lawrence went 21-for-26 from the stripe while Knox was 4-for-4.
The game got off to a rough start for the Vikings as Knox scored the first 10 points. Lawrence didn’t get on the board until Nikitas hit a pair of free throws with 13:32 left in the opening half.
The Vikings rallied during a stretch of 4:17 late in the first half to turn a 10-point deficit into a one-point lead. Lawrence trailed 22-12 when the Vikings went on a 13-2 run to take a 25-24 advantage. Miller scored five points during that stretch and capped the run with a 3-pointer with 2:53 left in the first half.
Knox recovered to take a 30-27 lead at the break as Adams hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer.