HONOLULU, Hawaii - The Prairie Fire men's basketball team earned a 68-66 victory over Lewis & Clark College to begin the Hoops in Hawaii Classic Thursday afternoon.

The first half began with an early, even 9-9 score. A back-and-forth battle continued for the rest of the first half. Lewis & Clark led 37-34 going into the half.

Knox managed to quickly tie up the game 39-39 in the second half. The Prairie Fire took the lead, and pushed past Lewis & Clark with an 11 point lead. Lewis & Clark came back with a ten point run, leaving the Prairie Fire ahead by only one point. Knox managed to stay ahead for the remainder of the second half, earning the win.

Andrew Milot led the Prairie Fire with 21 points. Sea Gallery added 19 points and nine rebounds.

"That was a gritty win by our guys," said Head Coach Ben Davis. "Lewis & Clark was a really tough & physical team. We did a great job fighting back after a slow start. We had a tough time finishing on the offensive end, but we were still in position to win the game with a good 2nd half defensively and a dominant game on the boards."

The Prairie Fire return to action on December 22nd for a match-up against Whitworth University to conclude the Hoops in Hawaii Classic.