For the second time this season, Monmouth will face Ripon needing a win to pull into a tie for first place in the league after Wednesday's 69-55 loss at Knox.
 
The Scots jumped out to a 21-17 first quarter lead before frigid shooting in the second half allowed Knox to heat up and extinguish Monmouth's nine-game win streak. Monmouth held a 36-32 halftime lead, but hit just four of their 11 shots in the third quarter while the Fire went 9-fo-14 from the floor to outscore the Scots 22-14 in the period. Monmouth's cold shooting continued in the fourth quarter as Knox pulled away with a 10-point advantage in the final 10 minutes.
 
While the Scots were falling to the Prairie Fire, Ripon edged Cornell in Wisconsin to pull a game ahead of Monmouth for the Midwest Conference lead with three games to play. The last time the teams met, the Scots clipped the Red Hawks in Wisconsin to forge a tie for the lead. A win over Ripon at Glennie Gym on Saturday would force another tie, but Monmouth would have the tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-0 head-to-head mark over the Hawks.
 
The Scots and Hawks are scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip Saturday at Glennie.