GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire men's basketball dropped a close 85-83 non-conference matchup with Blackburn on Wednesday night.

Knox jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the first half, but the Beavers stormed back to a 24-22 lead. The Prairie Fire quickly regained control with a 13-0 run to take a 35-24 lead. Knox maintained a 42-33 at halftime.

Blackburn chipped away at the Prairie Fire lead early in the second half to tie the game 50-50 with 14:23 to play. Neither team led by more than three points over the next 10 minutes, but the Beavers took a 60-54 lead with 2:09 to play.

Down 80-78 with under 20 seconds left, Knox got a defensive rebound and immediately turned the ball over to Blackburn for an easy layup and a four-point lead. A three-pointer by Jordan Rayner brought Knox within one point with about eight seconds left. Sean Gallery stole the inbounds pass by Blackburn and was immediately fouled. He nailed both free throws to give Knox an 83-82 lead with 5.8 seconds left. The Beavers heaved a desperation attempt at the buzzer from near 30 feet and it went in for the victory.

Rayner led Knox with 22 points and crossed the 1,000 point threshold for his career. He becomes just the 10th member to reach the milestone for the Knox men's basketball program. Rayner hit 11-of-12 free throws for the game.



Gallery added 20 points and seven rebounds. David Eismark racked up 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Carl Dortch put up 10 points and grabbed five boards.

"This was a great game all around," said head coach Ben Davis. "Both teams hit some great shots down the stretch and we just came out on the losing end. It was great to see Jordan score his 1,000th point."

Knox returns to action on November 22 as they travel to Principia.