Box Score

Monmouth, IL - After enduring several heartbreaking losses this season, a close game finally went the Prairie Fire's way.

Knox played its season finale on the road Saturday against rival Monmouth College and came out on top 61-58.  The victory ended a 21-game losing streak and prevented the Fire from going winless in Midwest Conference play.  The loss was the 12th straight for the Fighting Scots (3-20, 1-17).

The Prairie Fire, victimized by seven defeats of five points or less this season -- including three overtime games and two others decided at or near the final buzzer -- continued to play inspired basketball.

The game against the Scots at Glennie Gymnasium was back-and-forth throughout.  A three-point play by junior Joe Kozak (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) with 1:23 to play and a pair of made free-throws by junior Tanner Carlson (Annawan, IL, Annawan) with two seconds remaining in the contest sealed the victory and snapped Knox's three-game losing streak against Monmouth.

The Fighting Scots got off to a good start, scoring eight of the game's first nine points for a seven-point lead at the 15:48 mark of the first half.  The Prairie Fire responded with a 14-2 run for a 15-10 advantage with 12:00 to go before intermission.

Knox (2-21, 1-17 MWC) built a seven-point lead at 23-16 on jumper by Carlson with 8:05 to play in the opening half before Monmouth's Cory Gruber scored at the 2:45 mark to cap a 15-5 run for a 31-28 Monmouth lead.  The Fire scored the last nine points of the first half for a 37-31 lead at the break.

The Fighting Scots, who shot 53 percent in the first meeting this season against Knox at Memorial Gymnasium, had problems making shots the second time around.  Monmouth connected on 10-of-36 (28 percent) on their home floor in the first half. The Prairie Fire countered by knocking down a respectable 15-of-34 (44 percent) shots.

The Scots began the second half similar to how they started the game.  Monmouth put together an 18-6 run in the first 8:41 to reclaim a 49-43 lead.  Also like the first half, the Prairie Fire had an answer to the Scots' offensive runs.  Knox grabbed the lead back at 56-55 thanks to a 13-6 spurt that ended with a big basket by Carlson with 2:03 to play.

Monmouth forced the fifth tie of the game at 56-56 when Gruber split a pair of free-throws -- hitting the first and missing the second -- at the 1:44 mark, setting up Kozak's basket that ultimately sealed the win.

Kozak rebounded Gruber's missed free throw and scored on the Fire's next offensive possession, drawing a foul on Austin Andrews in the process.  Kozak made the free-throw for a 59-56 Knox advantage.

Monmouth's Curtis Oler missed a 3-point shot, which sophomore Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) rebounded.  Shaw was fouled on the play by Cory Bishop, sending him to the foul line.  Shaw missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Scots cut the Prairie Fire lead to one at 59-58 on Michael DeDecker's layup with 51 seconds to go.

Carlson missed a jumper on the following Knox possession and Monmouth's Gruber grabbed the rebound with 15 seconds left in the game.  The Scots worked nine seconds off of the clock when Gruber missed a potential game-winning shot that Carlson rebounded.

Carlson drained two free throws after he was fouled by Bishop with two seconds to play.  The Scots called a timeout to set up a play to try to go the full length of the court and tie the game.  The Prairie Fire defense held, forcing a turnover on the inbounds pass.

Knox, which outrebounded the Scots 53-40, was held to 31 percent shooting in the second half and finished at 38 percent overall.  The Scots shot 39 percent in the second half and 33 percent in the game.

The Prairie Fire received major offensive contributions from its reserves, which outscored Monmouth's bench players 26-14.  Kozak, who wasn't in the starting line-up, scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed six rebounds for Knox.  Carlson added 12 points, Shaw just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds and senior Matt Goedeke (Yates City, Illinois, Farmington) added 13 rebounds and seven points in his final game for the Fire.

Gruber and Andrews scored 14 points apiece for the Fighting Scots.  Bryce Donaldson added 11.

The win was the first for the Prairie Fire against Monmouth since a 70-65 victory during the 2008-09 season.