Box Score
Monmouth, IL – The Prairie Fire used a strong inside game and a big contribution from the bench in posting a 76-66 road victory on Saturday against Midwest Conference rival Monmouth College.
The win is the second straight for Knox (3-8, 2-4 MWC) against the Fighting Scots. The Fire also beat Monmouth 61-58 on February 19, 2011 on the Scots’ home floor in the final game of the 2010-11 season for both squads.
Knox ended a three-game slide with the victory. Monmouth (3-8, 1-5 MWC) entered play against the Fire with two wins in their last three after a third place finish at the Zimmerman Classic in Springfield, Ohio in late December.
The Prairie Fire, trailing 21-18, tied the game on a 3-point basket by first-year guard Armand Stricklin (Lee Summit, MO, Lee Summit West) with 8:09 to go in the first half. The Fighting Scots answered with a 6-0 run to go grab 27-21 lead with at the 5:28 mark.
Sophomore David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) drained a 3-pointer on Knox’s next possession to get his team within three. After Monmouth sank a pair of free throws, junior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) scored from inside and first-year guard Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City/Avon) drained a 3-pointer to give the Prairie Fire a 29-28 lead with 4:00 to go before the break.
Knox led by as many as four at 34-30 when Monmouth’s leading scorer Kenny Foster made a pair of free throws to cut the Fire lead to 34-32 at halftime.
Knox shot 48 percent in the first half and made 6-of-13 shots from 3-point range. The Scots connected on 41 percent from the field in the opening stanza with Foster leading the way with 17 points.
The teams played even, with Knox on top by two at 38-36 with 17:29 left in the game, when the Prairie Fire made its move. A 17-5 run put Monmouth in a 55-41 hole with 14:55 remaining.
Monmouth got within six, 57-51, at the 7:39 mark, but consecutive baskets by Knox post players Shaw and senior Joe Kozak (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) stretched the lead back to double-digits -- 61-51 – with a just under 7:00 to play. The Scots cut the deficit to eight on four different occasions but couldn’t get any closer.
The Prairie Fire defense held Foster to 2-of-10 shooting in the second half. He had a game-high 21 points on 8-of-24 from the floor. Foster also led all players with nine rebounds.
Knox shot a blistering 56 percent in the second half, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range (9-for-18 overall), and finished at 52 percent. The Prairie Fire has now shot over 50 percent in three straight games. Monmouth College shot 41 percent in both the second half and overall and struggled to a 9-of-19 performance at the foul line.
Kozak and Shaw combined for 28 points and 15 rebounds for Knox. Kozak tied Murphy, who came off the bench, for team-high honors with 16 points. Kozak added seven rebounds while Shaw had 12 points and eight boards. Stricklin reached double-figures with 11 points off the bench.
Senior Tanner Carlson (Annawan, IL, Annawan) was also instrumental in the win by contributing seven points and nine assists.
The Prairie Fire bench outscored Monmouth’s 32-16. Knox also finished with 17 points in the paint to 13 for the Scots and held a 10-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Fire goes for its second straight conference win Tuesday night at home against Lake Forest College. The Foresters (9-1, 5-0) are red hot, having won nine straight games after dropping their season-opener.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
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