Monmouth stayed atop the Midwest Conference, tied with St. Norbert after the Fighting Scots defeated Lake Forest 76-69, sending the Foresters into second place in the MWC.
The Fighting Scots fought through 13 lead changes before taking the lead for good midway through the second half when Paul Engo III scored two of his 17 points on an inside bucket to give Monmouth a 55-53 lead. The Scots stretched the lead to seven at 65-58 when Will Jones collected a bucket in the lane on his way to a team-high 18 points. Lake Forest never relented, trimming the margin to two possessions on a Sam Husting 3-pointer at 69-65 with 55 seconds left.
Monmouth held off the Foresters in the final minute when Jones and Justin Aluya combined to sink 7-of-8 free throws.
Aluya joined Jones and Engo in double figures with a 16-point afternoon while Lamar Watson chipped in 11.
The Scots travel to Knox Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. contest.
Monmouth staged a furious fourth quarter but was nipped in the final seconds of a 74-72 loss to Lake Forest Saturday at Glennie Gym.
Trailing 56-46 at the opening of the final frame the Fighting Scots roared back with a 12-4 run in the first three minutes to cut the margin to 60-58 when Carley Turnbull pumped in seven of her team-high 23 points. The Scots stayed within two possessions the rest of the way, knotting the game at 69-0all on Turnbull’s bucket in the lane with 1:07 to play. The Foresters then regained the lead on a Molly Schoenlein bucket and held off the Scots sinking three of four free throws in the final 10 seconds.
Turnbull was joined in double figures by Becca Gallis and Yvonne Ornelas who scored 13 each.
Monmouth hits the road Wednesday for a 7:30 contest at Knox.
