MONMOUTH, Illinois - The Prairie Fire men's basketball team fell to Monmouth 71-70 in a closely contested MWC road game on Saturday afternoon.

Knox took a 19-12 lead midway through the first half and led by as many as 11. The Prairie Fire held a 34-27 lead at halftime.

The Fighting Scots began the second half on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 36-all with 16:32 to play. The teams went back and forth over the next several minutes with five more ties, but after the game got to 49-49 Monmouth used a 7-2 run to take the five point lead. The Prairie Fire never led by more than seven and Knox chipped away at the lead in the final minutes, but a Grant Gessert trey at the buzzer left Knox down by one to end the game.

Sean Gallery led Knox with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Aidan Derry added 12 points and seven rebounds.

"We played well for most of the first half," said head coach Ben Davis. "Monmouth came out in the second half with a good game plan and renewed energy and we couldn't match it with some foul trouble that we got in. We played well in the final minutes, but came up just short. We now turn our attention to Lawrence."

The Prairie Fire will return to action as they host Lawrence on January 31.