DE PERE, Wisconsin- The Knox College men's basketball team dropped a hard fought game against St. Norbert College on Friday night.
 
Knox (0-4, 0-1 MWC) ended on the losing end of their conference opener, but a quality game set the Fire up with confidence for the rest of the conference season. In an up and down first half, Knox trailed by as much as 13, but battled back to just a four-point deficit with 2:21 remaining. The Green Knights closed on a 7-2 run to take a 47-38 lead into the half. St. Norbert expanded their lead 21 points at one point in the second half, but Knox battled back to a 12-point deficit at the finish.
 
Deryk Ruple led the scoring for the Fire with 13 points, 11 of them coming in the first half. DJ Lewis chipped in 11 as well, all in the first half. Jonathan Damota added 10 points, three assists and three steals and Marko Protic led the battle on the boards with five rebounds.
 
Knox will look to get back to even in conference play when they take on Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin on December 2.