GRINNELL, Iowa—The Knox Prairie Fire men's basketball team fell away to the Grinnell College Pioneers by a final score of 121-94. The loss moves their conference record to 2-8 on the season, and gives them two defeats in their two games against the Pioneers this year.
 
In the first half, Grinnell ran out to an early lead that they would not let up. For the Prairie Fire, Jordan Rayner played very well for his part, going 8-11 and putting up 17 points in an efficient performance. Knox as a whole went 18-43 from the field, with none of those shot attempts coming from beyond the arc. As for Grinnell, their barrage of three pointers proved to be Knox's undoing, as they could not keep up with the constant points from downtown for the Pioneers. As a result, they ended the half down by 22 points.
 
Knox performed much better in the second half, but they still could not close the gap between the teams. Rayner again performed well, scoring 13 more points for an impressive 30 point performance on the night. The Prairie Fire shot 64.3% from the field, and they pressured the Pioneers on defense as much as possible. Unfortunately, despite Grinnell being held largely in check offensively, they managed to put up enough shots that Knox could not seriously threaten them, and the game ended with Grinnell winning comfortably.
 
"Grinnell is always a tough team to play on the road," said head coach Ben Davis "We showed a lot of good things once again and will look to rebound against Beloit."
 
Knox looks to right the ship next Friday as they travel to Beloit to play at 5:30 p.m.