GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire men's basketball team dropped a close 65-59 game against Ripon on Saturday afternoon.

The Redhawks held an early 16-11 lead, but Knox stormed back to take a 19-18 lead. Neither team led by more than four for the remainder of the first half with the teams trading leads eight more times with the Prairie Fire holding a 34-32 edge at halftime. 

The teams traded leads another five times early in the second half, but Ripon got hot with three-pointers on three straight possessions to take a 49-42 lead. Neither team scored from the 9:42 to 6:06 mark in the second half, but another trey by the Redhawks gave them a 55-46 lead. Ripon soon led by 11 points, but Knox worked the deficit down to four after Jordan Rayner hit a pair of jumpers from long-range and converted a layup. The Prairie Fire missed a three-point with eight seconds left and Ripon converted a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

Rayner finished with a game-high 16 points on a 4-for-6 performance from long-range. Matt Garife tallied 11 points and Sean Gallery added 10 points. Isaiah Lockett chipped in six points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

"We played well the whole game except for a brief lapse in the second half. Ripon got hot and we just couldn't quite get it back," said head coach Ben Davis. "We still played very well against a very good team. It was nice to see some guys step up tonight, this should be a game we can build off."

Knox returns to action on December 14 as they travel to Dominican University.