GALESBURG, Ill. — Trailing 29-28 with 5:40 to play in the first half, Knox suffered the fate of many a team against the relentless Grinnell pressure as the visiting Pioneers scored 31 points the remainder of the half and left Memorial Gymnasium with a 107-88 victory on Tuesday evening. Gabe Garcia led Grinnell (14-5, 7-3 Midwest Conference) with 20 points, while senior Sean Gallery led all players with 25 points and junior Russell Wright had a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Prairie Fire (4-14, 1-8 MWC).

A three-point play by first-year Daunte Smith six minutes into the game gave Knox 14-13 lead, and classmate Ryan Erdos followed with his second 3-pointer of the season for a four-point advantage. That was the only lead of the night as it turned out, although the Prairie Fire scored seven straight points — all at the line — to get back within 29-28 with 5:41 left before halftime.

That's when everything shifted so quickly as Grinnell scored eight points in a 30-second span thanks to back-to-back turnovers. The offensive spree was just starting for the Pioneers as they added 16 more points in under three minutes, and with a 3-pointer by Harris Dar just in the waning seconds, Grinnell suddenly enjoyed a 60-43 lead at the intermission.

But Knox did not go down without a fight. The second half began with a Wright layup, two Gallery free throws and two more buckets by Wright. With the difference back in single digits at 60-51, the two sides began trading baskets until the score was 69-60. But a 12-0 Pioneer run made it a 21-point hole, and although Wright provided another layup to end the run, Knox would not get any closer than 17 (nor would they fall behind by more than 24) the rest of the way.

• Almost half of Gallery's points came at the foul line where he was 12-of-14, while Wright was 8-of-10 from the floor to go with a team-high five assists.
• Knox turned the ball over a season-high 32 times against the Grinnell press, leading to 41 Pioneer points.
• The Prairie Fire held a 53-35 advantage on the boards.
• The only other Knox player to score in double digits was sophomore Josh Stewart with 12.
• This is the second straight year that Grinnell has swept the series from the Prairie Fire.

Knox next hosts its basketball homecoming game on Saturday, Feb. 1 with numerous former players back at Memorial Gymnasium to watch the Prairie Fire host local rival and conference leader Monmouth College (14-5, 8-2 MWC), which won in overtime on the road at Lake Forest tonight. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. with a live stream and stats available for the game through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College athletics.