CHICAGO, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's basketball team (9-3) played its seventh December game on Friday night, hosting the Fighting Scots of Monmouth College (2-7) in the Keating Sports Center. Tech completed a perfect 7-0 month, downing the Scots 66-62 in a tightly contested matchup.

How it Happened

• It was the Fighting Scots who struck first, building its largest lead of the contest of eight points (15-7) at the 14:32 mark courtsey of four early three-point baskets.
• Tech called a timeout following Lamont Mitchell's three-pointer to put MC up eight. The move would pay off, as the Scarlet Hawks would creep back into the contest and take a 21-20 lead on a Samuel Rarick basket at the 7:49 mark. 
• The Scarlet Hawks extended the first half lead to six with 3:05 to go, but the Scots went into halftime with a 35-33 lead after Paul Engo III made two free throws with 0.2 seconds to play before intermission.
• With the Scots up three points early in the second half, a shooting foul and technical foul both went against Monmouth, resulting in four made free throws from Rarick. The situation flipped the score in favor of Tech and gave the Hawks a lead for the first time in the second half. 
• After four more lead changes, Jake Bruns provided a big spark for the Scarlet Hawks around the eight minute mark. Rarick found the sophomore guard for three-point field goals on consecutive possessions, pushing the Scarlet Hawk lead to seven (57-50) with 7:42 to play. It tied the team's largest lead of the contest.
• Monmouth fought back to tie the score at 60 with 4:18 to play, but an Anthony Mosley Jr. jumper about 90 seconds later gave the Scarlet Hawks the lead for good. 
• Will Jones scored with 17 seconds left to pull the Scots to within three at 65-62 and then forced a five-second call on the ensuing inbounds play. Tech, however, forced a missed three-pointer from Mitchell, which was followed by a made Rarick foul shot to ice the victory.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Rarick had one of his best games of the season. The senior co-captian led all players in scoring (23 points) and rebounding (12), shooting 9-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. The Chicago native also added three assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.
• Mosley Jr. was the only player in the contest to play all 40 minutes. He scored 20 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists, shooting 9-of-12 from the free throw line.
• Bruns made three shots from beyond the arc off the bench, finishin with nine points and two assists.
• Max Hisatake blocked five shots and pulled down 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes.

Stats to Know

• The Scarlet Hawks held Monmouth to just 31.1% shooting (23-of-74). It was Tech's best defensive output of the season.
• Monmouth outrebounded Tech 48-45.
• The Scarlet Hawks attempted 10 more free throws (19-9) than the Scots. Monmouth committed 14 fouls compared to Tech's nine.
• The win avenged Tech's largest margin of defeat from last season, as the Fighting Schots defeated Tech 119-59 last February.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks will open the 2017 portion of the schedule on Wednesday, January 4 by hosting East-West University. The contest will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Keating Sports Center. Live audio, video, and stats will be available. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.