FULTON, Mo. — Senior Sean Gallery scored a season-high 29 points, 19 of which came in the decisive second half, and 11 rebounds for his fifth career double-double to help Knox College (1-2) men's basketball earn its first victory of the season and 1,000th win in program history in a 77-59 triumph at Westminster College (0-3) on Tuesday evening. The win was also the first for Corey Harvey of the Prairie Fire as a collegiate head coach.

The game did not start well for Knox, however, as the Blue Jays jumped out to an 11-2 lead. The Prairie Fire managed to battle back and briefly take the lead midway through the opening half when first-year Willie Rogers III drained a 3-pointer, but that advantage was short-lived as Westminster responded right away with a long ball of its own. Knox would not get back on top until Gallery drove the lane for a layup at the buzzer and a 36-35 lead at the intermission.

In the second half, the Prairie Fire quickly established themselves as the team to beat. Though the Blue Jays scored the first bucket of the stanza, Knox scored 21 of the next 24 points to suddenly enjoy a 57-40 lead. Gallery provided nine of those 21 points, junior Cole Andrews drilled a pair of 3-pointers and Rogers chipped in a pair of buckets, including a dunk.

From there, Westminster never got closer than 13 points while the Prairie Fire led by as many as 20 to cruise to the win.

• Gallery finished the game 11-of-21 from the floor with a 3-pointer and 6-of-7 from the line.
• Rogers came off the bench to provide 14 points on the evening.
• Knox had double double-doubles with sophomore Josh Stewart pitching in 10 points and 11 rebounds, his second in three games this season.
• Andrews also had 10 points and added six assists to the effort.
• The Prairie Fire only connected on 24-of-69 field goals (.348), but they went to the charity stripe 37 times, hitting 25 foul shots (.676).
• Knox held a sizable advantage on the glass with 58 rebounds to just 35 for the Blue Jays, leading to a 19-8 edge in second-chance points.
• Westminster did itself no favors by converting only 10-of-23 free throws (.435).

The Prairie Fire return home to Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday, Nov. 23 when it hosts Blackburn College (0-3) at 3 p.m. Live video and stats will be available through the official website of Knox College athletics, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.