Box Score
GALESBURG, Illinois – The Prairie Fire battled back from an 18 point deficit and defeated Monmouth College 71-67 in Midwest Conference play on Tuesday at Memorial Gym.

Senior Mitch Murphy (Bushnell, IL, Bushnell-Prairie City) rebounded a missed shot and scored with two seconds remaining to send Knox over the top (click the image above for a video of the game-winning shot).  He added a pair of free throws for the final points of the game, helping the Prairie Fire snap a six-game losing streak against the Fighting Scots and earn a season split.

Monmouth (12-5, 9-3 MWC) controlled most of the first half and led 43-31 lead at the break.

The Scots went on an 8-0 run to build a 20-6 advantage midway through the first half.  Knox (5-12, 3-9 MWC) snapped the run on a three-point play by first-year Orlando Brown (Chicago, IL, Hinsdale South).

Monmouth took its biggest lead of the game, 33-15, on back-to-back 3-pointers – the second one at the 5:07 mark – prompting the Prairie Fire to call a time out.

Knox closed the gap to 13 before two free throws by the Scots made it 40-25.  A jumper by Murphy and two baskets from sophomore Robert Suntken (Naperville, IL, Naperville Central) cut the deficit to nine, but a 3-point basket just before the halftime buzzer gave Monmouth a 12 point lead at the break.

The Fighting Scots shot a blistering 57 percent (17-of-30) and netted five 3-point baskets in the first half.  Knox improved to 46 percent (13-of-28) shooting with the run late in the half but hit only 2-of-11 shots from 3-point range.

The Prairie Fire sliced the Monmouth lead to seven when Murphy began the second half with a 3-pointer and sophomore Deandre Weathersby (Chicago, IL, Kenwood Academy) followed with a basket.

Monmouth was up 46-38 when sophomore Mike Martin (Metamora, IL, Metamora) netted a 3-point basket to spark a 9-0 run that was capped by first-year Caylab Herrera (Middletown, DE, Middletown) hitting a jumper to give Knox its first lead at 47-46 with 13:27 remaining.

The game featured eight ties and eight more lead changes before it was settled.

The Fighting Scots held their last lead at 65-64 with 1:24 to play.  The Prairie Fire countered with two free throws by Weathersby that made it 66-65 with about one minute left.

A jump shot tied the game at 67-67 with 30 seconds to go, setting up Murphy's heroics.

Out of a timeout, Weathersby missed a shot from the right side that was rebounded by Murphy, who scored on a putback for the go-ahead points with two seconds on the clock.

Monmouth committed a turnover attempting to inbound the ball.  Knox got the ball in the hands of Murphy, who was fouled immediately and calmly sank two free throws to secure the win.

The Prairie Fire shot 52 percent and outscored the Fighting Scots 40-24 in the second half.  Knox held Monmouth to seven field goals and 28 percent shooting.  The Scots also hurt themselves at the line by missing nine of 17 attempts.

Suntken scored 16 points to lead the Prairie Fire in scoring.  Brown added 15 points, including 12 in the first half, and Murphy scored 14 to go with a team-high six rebounds.

Andrew Mathison led Monmouth with 16 points.

The Knox women's team defeated Monmouth 111-90 in the first game of the night to snap a 25-game losing streak against the Fighting Scots.  The wins by both Prairie Fire squads marked the first time they downed Monmouth in the same season since the 2001-02 campaign.

Knox plays its next three games on the road.  The first one is at Lawrence University on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.  The Prairie Fire will meet Cornell College on February 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Lake Forest College on February 7 at 5:00 p.m.