In front of a packed student section at the Sports & Recreation Center on Tuesday night, the Lake Forest men's basketball team was less than a minute from a signature conference win against Midwest Conference-leading Monmouth College.
 
However, Monmouth erased a four-point Lake Forest lead with under a minute remaining in regulation and kept their foot on the gas in overtime, as the Fighting Scots prevailed, 95-86.
 
In a back-and-forth showdown between two of the conference's best, the Foresters (8-11, 5-5 MWC) took the lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Guard Elijah Bull cleared a long defensive rebound and pushed in transition, finding a cutting Coltrane Marchand for the go-ahead layup plus a foul.
 
The Foresters then led by four with 49 seconds remaining after Bull converted a transition layup of his own, but Monmouth was able to force overtime with a pair of free throws and a layup off a Lake Forest turnover against the Fighting Scots' full-court press.
 
In overtime, Monmouth never trailed and shot 66.7 percent from the field.
 
Forward Cristian Rodriguez notched his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Alex Knight scored 19 points and added six rebounds and six assists, and Marchand was a key contributor with 13 points and tied his season high with eight rebounds while primarily guarding Monmouth's leading scorer.
 
Knight went to his patented pull-up floater off a dribble drive time and again to fuel Lake Forest's offense in the first half. The senior was held to 4-of-19 shooting in the first meeting with Monmouth and was intentional to not be held in check again. Knight was 9-of-14 shooting from two-point range on the game.
 
After scoring a season-low 46 points in the two teams' prior meeting on Dec. 3, the Foresters' offense had no such issues Tuesday night. Lake Forest scored 41 points in the first half and made more three-pointers in the first half (five) than the Foresters did in the first matchup (four) with the Fighting Scots.
 
Lake Forest was as close as it gets to taking the lead at halftime on a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Elijah Bull. After referee discussion, the basket was waived off and the Foresters went into intermission trailing 42-41.
 
The Foresters will look to bounce back in their next contest Saturday on the road against Lawrence at 3 p.m.