GALESBURG, Ill. — The Knox College men's basketball team enjoyed a 36-31 lead at the half, but visiting Coe College stormed back in the second half to knock off the Prairie Fire at Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday evening, 77-62. both Cooper Nailor and Jackson Bowman had 21 points to lead the Kohawks (7-3), while senior Russell Wright was the lone player for Knox in double figures with 12.

The scoring began slowly with the Prairie Fire taking a 6-4 lead on a hook shot in the paint by sophomore Ryan Erdos. That bucket started a 16-3 run, featuring seven different Knox players putting points on the board, giving the hosts a 20-7 advantage more than 10 minutes into the game. The Prairie Fire defense was stellar in that stretch, holding Coe to just 3-of-19 from the floor.

The next seven points went to the Kohawks, however, and while they whittled their deficit down to three on a Bowman bucket in the paint at 28-25, Knox held them off into the intermission as Erdos added a couple more baskets for a 36-31 halftime lead. After the frigid start for Coe, it hit 10 of its final 16 field goal attempts of the stanza.

The second half began with Nailor and junior Josh Stewart trading 3-pointers, but Nailor was just warming up. Knox remained on top until Nailor canned another triple with 14:05 to play, tying the game at 45, and he added another shortly thereafter to give the Kohawks a 48-45 lead, their first since it was 4-2 a minute and a half into the contest. Nailor hit his fifth and final long ball of the game with 12:13 still to play, putting Coe up by eight, 53-45.

Knox had one last gasp to get back into the game, closing to within three with still 4:48 to go on a layup by senior Carl Dortch. But the Prairie Fire could only muster one more basket the rest of the game while the Kohawks went on a 10-point run to seal their victory.

• Early in the second half, Wright scored the 500th point of his career while finishing an alley-oop dunk.
• Wright also led the Knox rebounding efforts with eight boards as the two teams each grabbed 41 caroms on the night.
• Sophomore Noah Campbell matched his season high of six assists while chipping in nine points.
• Turnovers and free throws proved costly for the Prairie Fire as Coe turned 15 Knox miscues into 19 points, and the Fire converted just 7-of-16 (a season-low .438) at the foul line.
• The Kohawks have won the last four meetings — the only four since the start of the millennium — and Coe is 48-40 in the series since 1950.

Knox will take to the skies to reach its next destination as the Prairie Fire will play in the Daytona Beach Shootout in Florida, starting with the perennially strong Williams College Ephs (6-2) on Friday, Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. (EST). A live video stream through FloSports.tv will be available (by subscription) along with live stats for the game through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College Athletics.