GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire men's basketball team defeated Cornell 79-71 on Saturday afternoon.

Jordan Rayner got the scoring going with an early fastbreak layup. The first half saw many lead changes, but Knox took a four point lead late in the half on a layup by Isaiah Lockett and a three-pointer by Duane Goodman in the closing seconds.

Rayner again struck first in the second half to give the Prairie Fire a 38-32 lead. Cornell stormed back to take a 59-49 lead, but Knox used a 14-0 run to retake the lead. The Prairie Fire pulled away in the final minutes to hold on for the victory.

Rayner led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Goodman added 16 points and David Eismark tallied 11. Cade Windham led the team with eight rebounds and scored seven points.

"This was a good win for us," said head coach Ben Davis. "We fell behind in the second half, but we stayed with it and played our best basketball at the end."

Knox closes their season on March 31 with a rematch at Cornell.