Monmouth stayed in third place in the Midwest Conference race with a 63-58 win over Knox Wednesday night at Glennie Gym.
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The Fighting Scots jumped out to a 7-0 first quarter lead and stretched it to 15-4 before Knox caught fire and took a lead of their own at 16-15 in the first two minutes of the second period. The Fire never trailed the rest of the half, heading into the intermission with a 29-28 lead.
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Monmouth roared back after the break, outscoring Knox 22-12 in the third quarter, retaking the lead at 34-32 on
Kaitlyn Osmulski's 3-pointer at the 7:10 mark.
Jordan Kintigh and
Carley Turnbull added buckets as Monmouth climbed to a 42-36 lead with 4:11 left in the third.
Josie Morgan's 3-ball in the final minute of the frame pushed Monmouth ahead by 10, but the Fire would not relent.
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Trailing by double digits in the final 10 minutes, Knox chipped away, eventually cutting the margin to three at 61-58 on a pair of free throws with 1:44 to play. Monmouth then held the Fire scoreless and
Shayne Smith added a pair of free throws with 15 second left to ice the game.
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Turnbull finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds – nine defensive – while shooting 8-of-15 from the floor as Monmouth's only double digit scorer.
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The Scots travel to Beloit Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip off.