MONMOUTH, Illinois— The Knox College men's basketball team dropped a close contest with Monmouth on Wednesday evening.
 
The Fighting Scots jumped out to a 13-2 lead and led by as many as 25 in the first half. Monmouth took a 49-29 lead into halftime.
 
The Prairie Fire took control early in the second half, quickly pulling to within 10 points with a 12-2 run in the first four minutes. Knox grabbed their first lead of the game when a layup by Zach Lowe put them up 56-55 with just over 10 minutes to play.
 
The teams traded leads over the next few minutes, with neither team leading by more than three points. The Fighting Scots used a 12-1 lead of their own to take another double-digit lead. The Prairie Fire brought the score back to within five in the final minutes, but Monmouth hit their final four free-throw attempts to cement their victory.
 
Ikenna Ozor led Knox with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds. Ethan Meeker added 15 points and Jordan Rayner scored 12. Matthew Leary also reached double-digits with 10 points.
 
"I am very proud of the team for fighting until the very end after falling behind early," said head coach Ben Davis. "Monmouth is always a tough opponent and we were right in it until the end"
 
The Prairie Fire will face another tough road test on Saturday as they travel to St. Norbert.