WATERTOWN, Wisconsin—The Prairie Fire men's basketball team picked up their first win of the season by outlasting Maranatha Baptist 82-79.

Knox (1-7) jumped out to an early lead and only trailed for a brief time late in the first half. The Prairie Fire had built a 41-35 lead back by halftime and continued to add to the lead in the second half. Knox scored the seven points of the second half and held a double-digit lead for much of the half. With 8:39 left in the game, the Prairie Fire led by 19 points. The Sabercats would not go down without a fight, however. Maranatha Baptist, who still trailed by 10 points with 1:04 remaining, pulled to within two points with 11 seconds left. Jonathan Damota hit a free throw to give the Prairie Fire a three-point lead and the Sabercats missed on a last second desperation attempt.

Damota, Deryk Ruple, and Jacob Kampf each finished with a team-high 16 points. Blake Godbold earned his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Marko Protic poured in 11 points and grabbed nine boards.

Knox will travel to California for games on December 15 and 16 at University of Laverne and CalTech.