FLANAGAN - The Flanagan pep band performed a variety of Christmas favorites during halftime. Fieldcrest's basketball team almost got in the holiday spirit, too.

The one about it is better to give than receive.

Coasting along with a 27-point lead in the third quarter, the Knights suddenly found themselves ahead only seven with 1:47 left. Noah Martin then sank four free throws to give Fieldcrest breathing room as the Knights held off Flanagan for a 67-55 victory in a Heart of Illinois Conference game.

Jordan Krone scored a career-high 27 points and Martin added 15 as Fieldcrest improved to 3-1 overall and in the league.

"Did that clock move the last three minutes?" said Fieldcrest coach Matt Winkler. "We're still getting to know each other. We're still an inexperienced team. Tonight we learned a valuable lesson - you have to play 32 minutes."

Flanagan (3-4, 1-2) found itself trailing 17-2 with the game only four minutes old as the Falcons could not handle Fieldcrest's pressure, trapping defense.

"With our team this year, we're going to have to come out with a lot of energy. That's what we do," said Krone, a 6-foot senior forward. "You can see we're not very big. We have to play our game and start out that way."

Krone's 16 points helped Fieldcrest to a 38-23 halftime lead. The Knights' pressure again took its toll on Flanagan after the break as Tony Williams' layup put Fieldcrest up 55-28 with 3:01 left in the third quarter.

"We were awfully worried about that. We knew it was coming and worked on it," said Flanagan coach John Hughs. "But you can't simulate their effort and quickness in practice."

However, Fieldcrest soon got into foul trouble and put Flanagan in the bonus. The Falcons went on a 12-0 run to cut the gap to 55-40. Martin's two free throws gave the Knights a 59-44 lead before Flanagan rallied again with a 9-1 spurt, capped by Dave Harnish's 12-foot jumper that shaved the deficit to 60-53.

"There's no quit in the kids. None at all, anywhere," said Hughs. "I'm proud of their effort and the way they battled. But I would like to see some of that effort and energy the first 16 minutes."

Darin Gundy paced Flanagan with 15 points, while Harnish added 12 and Alex Detwiler 11. The Falcons shot 49 percent from the field (21 of 41) and held a 31-27 rebounding advantage, but committed 24 turnovers and went 11 of 25 at the line.

After shooting 65 percent from the field in the first half (13 of 20), Fieldcrest slumped in the second half to finish at 48 percent (20 of 42). However, the Knights sank 23 of 32 free throws, with Martin going 10-of-12.

"Our effort and aggressiveness has been our trademark the first four ball games," said Winkler. "It hasn't always looked pretty and didn't at times tonight, but I bet you for about 10 minutes it looked like a thing of beauty the first four minutes of the ballgame and five or six minutes of that third quarter."