Fighting Scots Defeat Knox; Qualify for MWC Tournament Field

February 22, 1999
MONMOUTH, IL – The Monmouth College men’s basketball team took care of business on Saturday night and then received a bit of good news from Beloit as the final pieces of the Midwest Conference postseason tournament puzzle fell into place over the weekend. Monmouth controlled their own fate and their 81-66 victory over the Prairie Fire in Galesburg sealed their 16th playoff appearance in the last 20 seasons as the Scots finished their 16-game MWC schedule at 10-6. In another game with playoff implications, Beloit upset Lawrence to knock the Vikings out of the tourney race and give Illinois College its first-ever men's tournament berth. Illinois and Monmouth both finished at 10-6 and split their two-game season. The Blueboys, however, earned the #3 seed due to the fact they defeated the number-one team in the league, Ripon, in head-to-head competition. Monmouth had lost twice to Ripon during the season.

The tournament brackets are now set for this weekend. Ripon (18-4), the defending league champion, earned the right to host the playoffs with the conference's best regular-season record at 13-3. As the #4 seed Monmouth (11-11) will face the Red Hawks in the 7:00 PM game on Friday night. St. Norbert (16-6, 12-4) is the #2 seed and will play Illinois (12-10) in the 5:00 PM game. The winners will meet at 3:00 PM on Saturday to determine the league champion and the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III National Tournament. The Fighting Scots last won the MWC title in the 1989-90 season and advanced to the second round of the national tournament before being defeated by eventual NCAA runner-up DePauw.

Monmouth's win over Knox was the 100th for the Fighting Scots in the long storied rivalry between the two schools in men’s basketball. With two victories this season Monmouth now holds a 100-77 lead in the series that traces its origins to the 1907-08 season. The college’s all-time men's basketball record now stands at 1,045-770 and the college is one of only 25 programs in NCAA Division III history with more than 1,000 career victories.

MIDWEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT (at Ripon, WI)

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26:
5:00 PM -- St. Norbert (16-6) vs. Illinois (12-10)
7:00 PM -- MONMOUTH (11-11) vs. Ripon (18-4)

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 27:
3:00 PM -- Championship game (Winner advances to NCAA tournament)