MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - The Knox Prairie Fire men's basketball team were defeated by the Cornell College Rams, losing by a final score of 77-65. The loss is their third in a row, and puts their season record at 6-13.

The first half got off to a promising start for Knox, as several players had efficient shooting performances early in the game. Jordan Rayner scored 9 points on 4-of-7 shooting, while Giannis Tsahageas added seven more while pulling down two rebounds. These two players paced the team in scoring, and the team as whole shot 50% from the floor, a strong showing after recent offensive struggles. Defensively, the Prairie Fire allowed the Rams to shoot 50% as well, although Cornell was able to utilize their three-point shooting more than Knox, and as a result, the Prairie Fire found themselves down by 4 points.

While Knox's offense largely kept up their previous pace in the second half, their defense fouled Cornell players much more than before. The Prairie Fire offense went 12-for-25 by utilizing effective screens to create open shots, while Rayner maintained his great performance by putting up 10 more points in the second half. Unfortunately, the Rams were sent to the free throw line 23 times, making 18 of them in the process. This tipped the otherwise close half in favor of Cornell, and the Prairie Fire fell as a result.

"We played much better against Cornell today than we did on Saturday," said head coach Ben Davis. "Our adjustments were good and we stayed in the game until near the end. We are showing signs of putting it all together, but we just need to be more consistent."

Knox looks to right the ship when they play host to Monmouth College this Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.