GALESBURG, Ill. — Knox sophomore Josh Stewart had a career night with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while junior Russell Wright added 11 points and 10 boards, but the duo's production was not enough to carry the Prairie Fire to victory against Lawrence on Wednesday night at Memorial Gymnasium. The Vikings (3-6, 1-2 Midwest Conference) earned their first league win by sending Knox (2-6, 0-2 MWC) to its fourth straight defeat, 67-61.

Playing without senior Sean Gallery, the third-leading scorer in the conference, the Prairie Fire turned to Stewart to fill the void, and he answered the call with career highs in points and rebounds for his third double-double of the young season. He hit 9-of-16 field goals and all six of his free throws to account for his scoring production, while Wright registered his second career double-double.

Knox trailed for most of the first half before rattling off seven straight points, the last four on back-to-back layups by Stewart, to put the Prairie Fire on top, 28-25, with 1:23 remaining in the half. But Lawrence got back to even at 30-30 as the horn sounded thanks to a putback by Landon Key on missed layup in the final seconds of the stanza.

The second half began well for Knox as first-year Brandon Cooley and Stewart each dropped in layups out of the locker room for a sudden four-point advantage. The next eight points, however, went to the Vikings, and they never trailed again, though Wright put the fire in the Prairie Fire with a thunderous breakaway dunk to cut the deficit to two, 45-43, with just 11 minutes to play. But when Lawrence sank a pair of free throws following the slam, Knox never had the ball with a chance to tie the rest of the way.

• Knox was held 20 points under its scoring average entering the game, which is almost exactly what Gallery averages per game (20.7 ppg).
• While the Prairie Fire posted its best accuracy at the line this season by converting 12-of-14 fouls shots (.857), they struggled from behind the arc, sinking a season-low 3-of-18 3-point attempts (.167) for the second time in the last three games.
• Lawrence bottled up Knox's second-leading scorer, junior Cole Andrews, holding him to a career-low one point as he was unable to hit a 3-pointer for the first time this season and just the fourth time in his last 34 contests.
• The Vikings got 16 points apiece from Key and Nathan Valentine, plus a double-double from Casey Schoenecker (13 points, 10 rebounds).
• The last six games in this series have been won by the visiting team.

Knox now has the difficult task of traveling to Ripon, Wisconsin, this Saturday, Dec. 14, to try and knock off the Ripon College Red Hawks (3-5, 0-1 MWC), a team that has won 39 of the 41 meetings since the start of the 2000-01 season. But one of those two Prairie Fire wins came last season in Galesburg. Tip-off will be at approximately 3 p.m., following the conclusion of the women's game, with live video and stats available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College athletics.