RIPON, Wisconsin - The Prairie Fire men's basketball team dropped a close 72-69 Midwest Conference game at Ripon on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Hawks scored the first six points of the game, but Knox used an 18-6 run to take a six point lead. Ripon turned around with a 12-2 run to retake the lead. The Red Hawks held a slight 35-34 advantage at halftime.

Ripon maintained their lead throughout the second half with Knox never falling behind by more than seven points and coming within a single point multiple times. The Red Hawks held on for the victory.

Sean Gallery and Chikere Nwosu led Knox with 17 points apiece. Nwosu was 3-for-6 from long-range. Grant Gessert and Andrew Milot added 11 points each. Gessert hit 3-of-5 treys.

"Ripon is always a tough matchup on the road," said head coach Ben Davis. "We stayed with them all game thanks to some great shooting from Grant and Chikere from three. We still have four games left and we will focus on the next game."

The Prairie Fire will return to action as they host rival Monmouth on February 6.