PELLA, Iowa - The Prairie Fire men's basketball team fell to Central College 88-66 on Friday night.

Knox held an early 9-7 lead, but the Dutch used a 10-0 run to take an eight point lead. Central led by as many as 13 in the first half, but the Prairie Fire worked it back to a single-digit deficit in short order. A three-pointer by the Dutch gave them a 39-29 lead at halftime.

Central scored the first 11 points of the second half to take a commanding 21 point lead with 16:28 to play. The Dutch worked up to a 30 point lead at one point. Knox chipped away at the lead, but could not get within 20 the rest of the game.

Raphael Jalnaiz led the Prairie Fire with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Sean Gallery and David Vuillemin each added nine points.

"Central is a very good team and they showed it by shooting 50% tonight," said head coach Ben Davis. "Our defense was able to make their offense work for it in the first half, but they really turned it on in the second half. We have things to work on and will get back at it tomorrow."

Knox travels to Simpson College on November 26 to continue a five game road trip.