The Prairie Fire men’s basketball team dropped a 65-59 contest to Augustana on Monday night. The Vikings jumped out to a 22-6 lead early in the first half. Knox chipped away at the lead, but still trailed 38-26 at halftime. A three-point play by Sean Gallery brought the Prairie Fire deficit to single digits early in the second half. Knox kept clawing back and trailed just 43-41 with 12:35 left to play.
Augustana slowly built back up their lead and led 56-46 by the 6:17 mark. The Vikings maintained a double-digit lead for much of the next few minutes, but Knox once again fought back to within five points with 15 seconds left. Augustana made their first free throw and missed the second to get the clock rolling again and a Prairie Fire turnover sealed the game.
Matt Garife led Knox with 13 points, hitting 2-of-5 from long-range. Sean Gallery added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Jordan Rayner tallied 11 points.
“We fought back from an early deficit and played very well at times,” said head coach Ben Davis. “We allowed way too many offensive rebounds to Augustana and they took advantage of the second chance points.”
The Prairie Fire return to action on January 3 as they host Lake Forest in a Midwest Conference matchup.
