GALESBURG, Illinois – The Prairie Fire men's basketball team played their final game of the season on Saturday when they hosted Ripon.
 
Ikenna Ozor would open up the scoring for the Prairie Fire. Ripon would start the game red hot as they would have a 27-12 lead at the 9:15 mark of the 1st half. The Prairie Fire would go on a run to cut the lead to seven, but Ripon would respond and balloon the lead to 18 at the end of the first half.
 
Jordan Rayner came up big in the first half. He led the Fire in scoring and threw down an emphatic dunk that had the crowd buzzing. Blake Godbold would also chip in with six points.
 
Knox came out of the break with renewed energy, and the first-years helped lead a comeback. Jaelon Brooks would get a steal and a jumper to cut the Ripon lead to 11, but the game would get no closer and the Red Hawks would pull away again.
 
The score at the end of the game wound up being 90-65 in favor of Ripon. Blake Goldbold led the team in rebounds, and Rayner paced the Fire in points with 16.
 
"We played well when we were sharing the ball," said head coach Kevin Walden. "We just played too much in defensive transition throughout the game."
 
The young Prairie Fire team showed spurts throughout the season, and that experience will help them a ton next season. With no seniors, the Prairie Fire can return everybody from this year's team.