GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire men's basketball team defeated Beloit College 51-49 on Sunday afternoon.

The Prairie Fire jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first half and maintained a lead throughout the remainder of the half. Beloit quickly closed the gap, leaving the Prairie Fire ahead by only one point. The Prairie Fire took control with a 16-9 run to finish out the half and take a 26-18 lead going into the half.

Beloit took a late 41-40 lead in the second half with just 6:34 left of play. Both teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the half, with a late 49-49 even score with just over a minute left to play. The Prairie Fire managed to pull away and claim victory over the Buccaneers.  

Sean Gallery led the Prairie Fire with 16 points. Andrew Milot tallied 15 points. Cole Andrews added 11 points and eight rebounds. 

"Not our best game today, but we are going to learn from our mistakes today as we move forward onto Cornell" said Head Coach Ben Davis. "We fell off a bit in the second half, but ultimately I'm glad we stayed in it and kept our energy to come out with a win."

The Prairie Fire will travel to Cornell College on January 17th for another conference match-up.