Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire showed plenty of fight by coming back from a big deficit, but Monmouth College made enough plays down the stretch to win 78-75 in the last game of the 2011-12 season.

The Fighting Scots appeared on their way to a lopsided victory on Senior and Parents Night at Knox after exploding on offense in the first half.  Monmouth jumped out to a 7-2 lead less than 3:00 into the contest before the Prairie Fire scored the next six points for an 8-7 advantage with 14:53 to go.

Monmouth (7-16, 5-13 MWC) took off when Klynton Bollinger hit a 3-pointer with 5:50 to play to give his team a 31-25 lead.  After Knox (3-20, 2-16) cut the deficit to 31-26 less than a minute later, the Scots went on a 21-4 run to take a 52-30 halftime lead.

Monmouth shot a red-hot 14-of-17 (82 percent) from 3-point range in the opening half and 19-of-31 (61 percent) overall.  Michael DeDecker scored 23 points for the Scots in the first half on 9-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point land.  One of his treys went in right before the halftime buzzer sounded.  The Prairie Fire shot 11-of-30 (37 percent) in the first half with one triple and made 7-of-11 free throws.

The second half was a much different story as Knox opened with a 21-0 run to cut the Monmouth lead to 52-51 with 11:24 remaining.  A free throw by Cody Hillier snapped the run at the 10:35 mark to put the Scots ahead 53-51.

A steal and layup by first-year point guard Armand Stricklin (Lee Summit, MO, Lee Summit West) of Knox tied the game at 53-53.  The teams were also tied at 56 when senior Tanner Carlson (Annawan, IL, Annawan) buried a 3-pointer to give the Fire held its biggest lead at 59-56 with 7:00 to go. 

After a pair of Kendall Cox free throws for Monmouth made it a one point game at 59-58, Knox reclaimed a three point lead at 61-58 on a shot inside by senior Alex Schobert (Belleville, IL, Belleville West) with 6:27 remaining.  A 3-pointer by Cox about 30 seconds later tied the game at 61.  The teams also were tied at 64 and 66 before the Fighting Scots took the lead back for good.

DeDecker, who was held scoreless for nearly 18:00 of the second half, made two free throws at the 2:10 mark to give Monmouth a 68-66 lead.  He then scored with 1:29 to play to extend the advantage to four at 70-66.   

The Prairie Fire closed the gap to one at 76-75 when Carlson sank three free throws with :03 after he was fouled on a 3-point shot attempt.  Brent Burrows sealed the win for the Scots with a pair of made free throws with :02 to play, ending a two-game Knox winning streak against Monmouth.

The Fighting Scots made just 4-of-21 (19 percent) shots in the second half and missed their first eight free throws before settling in and sinking 16-of-26 at the stripe.  Monmouth finished the game at 44 percent shooting, including 16-of-27 (59 percent) from 3-point range. 

Knox was 25-of-59 from the floor (42 percent) after shooting 14-of-29 (48 percent) in the second half.  The Prairie Fire struggled from 3-point range, connecting on 3-of-15 (20 percent), and wound up 22-of-32 at the free throw line

DeDecker led all scorers with 27 points.  Carlson had 26 points to lead Knox.  Junior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and senior Joe Kozak (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds.

The teams split the season series after the Prairie Fire won 76-66 at Glennie Gym on January 7.

Carlson, Kozak, Schobert, Jacob Lewis (Bloomington, IL, Downs Tri-Valley), and Ben Wetherbee (Sydney, Australia, Woodstock) were recognized, along with their families, before the game.  The seniors played in a Knox uniform for the last time in front of a packed gymnasium.

Wetherbee finished his career as the all-time leader in 3-pointers with 199.  He also had 966 points in his four years at Knox.  Kozak had 976 points and 495 rebounds in his career.

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