The Monmouth College men’s basketball team played their first game since December 31, falling at home to Lawrence University 78-51 on Saturday afternoon. The game starts a stretch of four games in eight days as the Fighting Scots fall to 2-10 overall, 1-3 in Midwest Conference play.
Lawrence started strong out of the gate with three early 3-pointers, two from Matthew Kaznikov. Jonathan Oradiegwu (Richmond, Texas) scored Monmouth’s first five points, including a 3-point play, before Jordan Metcalf (Aledo, Illinois) got a shot to fall in the lane. By the time the Scots scored again they were down 22-7.
Monmouth got a 6-0 run as Kendall Brasfield (Chicago, Illinois) scored four straight points and Metcalf added a putback. However, a pair of turnovers led to quick baskets for the Vikings before Brad Sendell buried a long 3-pointer to give Lawrence a 31-13 lead with 6:42 left in the half.
A lay-up from Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) ended the Lawrence run but the teams traded baskets. Will Ewald (Lincoln, Illinois) got a layup for the SCots before Lawrence hit two more 3-pointers. Free throws from Sendell pushed the Vikings lead to 39-17 and the led 42-22 at halftime.
Brasfield hit a couple runners early in the second half but Lawrence answered with five straight points from Kaznikov. Briar Greenman buried a 3-point from the wing to cut the Lawrence lead to 49-31 with 16:00 to play.
Amyas Njoku (Los Angeles, California) hit a 3-pointer and Brasfield’s layup gave the SCots a 5-0 run. Njoku added another bucket and Lawrence turned the ball over with a 54-38 lead. Njoku got another bucket on a putback and Breck Biedscheid (Washington, Illinois) blocked a shot in the lane.
The Vikings pushed the lead back to 18 with 10 minutes to play. After a Metcalf block, Brasfield buried a wing 3-pointer to make the score 58-43. Out of a timeout, Ewald made a floater before Sendell made a 3-pointer to put Lawrence up 61-45.
Sendell hit two more shots and the Vikings pushed the lead back to 20 as Monmouth called timeout down 69-47 with six minutes left. Lawrence added another 3-pointer and finished the game with a 79-59 win.
Brasfield led the Scots with 15 points while Njoku had nine. Briar Greenman and Ewald both finished with eight and Metcalf led the team with nine rebounds.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: After scoring the first five points for the Scots, Oradiegwu went to the bench with 15:41 to play in the first half and didn’t play the rest of the gameLawrence is 8-2 in the last 10 against Monmouth and 5-1 in their last six games in Glennie GymThe Vikings made 12-of-27 from 3-point range…The Scots are next in action on Monday, Jan, 24 at Beloit and they will host Lake Forest on Wednesday, Jan, 26.
***Report Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
