GALESBURG, Illinois—The Prairie Fire men's basketball team is currently in California gearing up for a pair of games.

Knox (1-7) will square off against the University of La Verne Leopards (0-6) on December 15 in a 7:00 p.m. (PT) game. The Prairie Fire will turn around and match up against the CalTech Beavers (1-5) on December 16 at 5:00 p.m. (PT). It will be the first time in school history that Knox has played either team. The Prairie Fire are currently in California practicing in preparation for the back-to-back games.

Knox is coming off their first victory of the season and currently holds several advantages over the Leopards and the Beavers. The Prairie Fire are shooting .463 from the field so far in 2017, well ahead of La Verne (.380) and CalTech (.383). Knox also shoots much better from beyond the arc (.423) than the Leopards (.293) and the Beavers (.375). The Prairie Fire also hold the edge over La Verne in the turnover battle and CalTech on the boards. Knox will need to limit turnovers to gain the upper hand.

Look for Blake Godbold and Jonathan Damota to play large role during the trip. Godbold leads the team with 14.5 points per game and adds 8.1 rebounds per game to round out his game. Damota is averaging 14.0 points per game while also contributing 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Deryk Ruple has scored double-digit points in six of the eight games so far this season and brings a 12.3 scoring average into the mix. Marko Protic leads the way with 8.3 rebounds per game and DJ Lewis dishes out 4.1 assists per game. Jacob Kampf is shooting .474 from three-point range coming off the bench.

Tune into the broadcasts or follow the games live:

La Verne Video                 La Verne Live Stats

CalTech Video                   CalTech Live Stats