Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire overcame a double-digit second half deficit but couldn’t shake Monmouth College in a 106-97 double overtime loss on Wednesday.

The Prairie Fire (1-19, 1-14 MWC) trailed 35-24 at halftime after shooting 39% but made 6-of-12 shots from 3-point range.  Monmouth hit 54.4% from the floor in the opening half.

The Fighting Scots (6-15, 5-11 MWC) extended the lead to 47-34 on the first possession of the second half.  Knox followed with a 16-3 run to tie the game at 50-50 with 13:02 left in regulation.  The Prairie Fire, after tying the game at 61-61, benefitted from three straight points by junior David Jones (Denver, CO, Colorado Academy) to take a 64-61 at the 7:53 mark.

A 10-2 run gave the Scots the lead back at 71-66 with 3:14 to play.  Knox, trailing 74-70 with 2:05 to go, scored four unanswered points – a jumper by juniorEric Miller (Villa Park, IL, Willowbrook), a free throw by senior Tyler Olson (Marengo, IA, Iowa Valley), and a free throw by Jones that tied the game at 74-all -- to force the first overtime.

Monmouth led by as many as five points twice in the extra session, but the Prairie Fire came back and tied the game at 91-91 on a 3-point basket by Olson with 4.9 seconds remaining.  The Scots couldn’t score on their final possession and the teams went into a second overtime.

Monmouth outscored Knox 15-6 in the final five minutes of the game to secure the victory.  The Scots made 7-of-13 shots and 18-of-24 free throws in the two overtimes while the Prairie Fire went 7-of-20 from the floor and connected on 8-of-10 foul shots.

Monmouth shot 51% overall compared to 42% for Knox.

Jones led Knox with a season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Miller and Olson contributed 18 points each, sophomores Armand Stricklin (Lee Summit, MO, Lee Summit West) and Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City/Avon) had 12 apiece, and senior Lukas Shaw (Portland, OR, U.S. Grant) scored 11.

Nick Marema scored a game-high 26 points for the Fighting Scots. 

The Prairie Fire plays next at Beloit College on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

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