GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire men's basketball team dropped a MWC game 68-58 to Lawrence on Wednesday night.

The Vikings jumped out to a 13-8 lead early in the first half, but Knox tied the game at 15-15. The Prairie Fire held a 30-20 lead with 3:02 left in the fist half. Lawrence finished the half on an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to four points at halftime.

The teams remained close early in the second half with Knox pulling away by eight points with 12:49 left to play. A foul by the Prairie Fire to setup a three-point play for the Vikings and a technical immediately after gave Lawrence the momentum they needed to make a run. The Vikings took a 48-46 lead with 8:31 to play. After Knox tied it up at 48-48, Lawrence took the lead for good.

Sean Gallery led Knox with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Jordan Rayner added 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

"That is a really frustrating loss," said head coach Ben Davis. "We've made a lot of progress as a team on both ends of the court over the past week, and it would have been great to see that progress rewarded with a win. We executed well in stretches, but when we needed to string together a few defensive stops or grab a rebound in key moments, we weren't able to do it. Everyone in our locker room knows that's a game we should have. I'm excited to get back to work tomorrow to clean up our mistakes and get ready for Ripon on Saturday."

The Prairie Fire return to action on December 10 as they host Ripon.