MOUNT VERNON, Iowa—The Prairie Fire men's basketball team dropped a conference matchup at Cornell on Wednesday night.
 
Knox got on the board first when Ikenna Ozor converted a layup in the first minute of the game. The Rams quickly responded with a three-pointer to kick off a 7-0 run. The Prairie Fire worked the score back to 7-9, but Cornell stormed out to a double-digit lead with 12:29 left in the opening half. Knox cut the deficit to just three points at the 7:05 mark, but the Rams jumped back up by double digits soon after and led 42-35 going into intermission.
 
Cornell again built up a double-digit lead early in the second half, but Knox would fight back again to only trail by three with 17:50 left in the game. The Prairie Fire kept their deficit under 10 for the next five minutes, but the Rams pulled away by 15 points with just over 10 minutes left to play. Knox would not give in and worked the score back to within five with 7:12 on the clock. The Prairie Fire would get no closer as Cornell had another run in them and held on for an 84-75 win.
 
Deryk Ruple hit 5-of-7 from long-range to lead Knox with 15 points. Jordan Rayner added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Wes Jolly, Ikenna Ozor, and Justin Windt each chipped in 11 points. Jolly led the team with nine rebounds.
 
"We fought the entire game after falling behind early," said head coach Kevin Walden. "We showed many good things tonight and will look to improve going into Saturday."
 
The Prairie Fire continue their road swing with a trip to Lake Forest on January 5.