Box Score Monmouth led from start-to-finish in an 86-61 win over Knox.
The Fighting Scots scored the game’s first eight points and outscored the Prairie Fire 50-14 in the paint. Mike DeDecker recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 assists. It was DeDecker’s 3-pointer with 12 minutes left in the first half that gave the Scots a 10-point edge. Knox countered, cutting the margin to three on a three-ball of their own before back-to-back buckets by Nick Marema and DeDecker pushed the Scots back to a double-digit lead just before the half.
After the Scots scored the first bucket of the second half, the Fire briefly took charge, scoring inside before the Scots took charge.
Ben Friday’s layup pushed Monmouth to a 49-38 lead with 16:43 left in the game and Andrew Mathison’s dunk less than a minute later ignited a 24-9 run as the Scots controlled the final 15 minutes to pick up the win.
Wes Dukeman just missed joining DeDecker’s double-double. Dukeman finished with a game-high 21 points and pulled down nine boards.