Playing without their leading scorer on the season, the Monmouth College men’s basketball team opened Midwest Conference play with a 75-62 win at Lake Forest on Tuesday. The Scots (3-3, 1-0) got a career-high 22 points from Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois) to offset the absence of David Williams (Loves Park, Illinois).
“Im extremely proud of everyone stepping up with two starters (Williams and Yuvraj Sidhu) out tonight,” said head coach Todd Skrivseth. “This is a very talented Lake Forest team, strong on offense and this is a win I’ll remember as we got contributions from everyone.’
The Scots jumped out to an early lead as Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) made a layup, Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer and Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) made a jumper for a 7-0 lead. The Foresters scored the next five points before Plumer and Hill scored on consecutive possessions. Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) scored four straight Monmouth points for a 15-6 lead before LFC scored 12 points in a row to take an 18-15 lead. Plumer scored to end the run and then scored again in the paint. Hill knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 22, forcing a Foresters timeout. After Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) scored to tie the game, Flynn put the Scots back on top with a jumper and Taylor hit a 3-pointer. Greenman scored and Maring added two baskets to give the Scots a 35-29 lead. Lake Forest tied the game with consecutive 3-pointers and added another five points to lead 40-35 at the break.
“We ran the offense well tonight and got some good looks with great execution and then the guys knocked down the shots when needed,” said Skrivseth.
The Scots tied the game early in the second half as Plumer scored and Taylor hit a 3-pointer. Hill scored to give Monmouth a 46-45 lead and Brennen McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) scored his first basket of the night. Greenman put the Scots up 50-45 and Hill scored again before the Foresters knocked down a 3-pointer to end the 8-0 run. Plumer scored twice and Flynn added a basket for a 58-48 lead. Taylor, Flynn and Plumer all scored as the Scots pushed the lead to 65-52 with 5:24 to play. Lake Forest cut the lead to 10 but Plumer kept scoring with two more buckets and Hill knocked down a jumper for a 71-57 lead with 1:16 to play. :Jasno Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) made a free throw and a bucket while Hill added a free throw in the final 15 seconds for the 75-62 win.
“Turner was an absolute beast around the basket and did a nice job defensively for us,” said Skrivseth. “Greenman was tremendous off the bench and Hill played an outstanding game. Our scout team was tremendous in practice, Damarian Stark and Brennan Horton-Lee gave us good looks there. To hold them to 22 in the second half was an unbelievable effort by our guys.”
Plumer scored a career-high 22 points on 11-of-13 shooting. Hill scored 15 points while Taylor had 10, Greenman had nine and Flynn added eight. Greenman and Huber led the Scots with eight rebounds each while Flynn dished out four assists.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Plumer scored 17 points last Tuesday against Blackburn before topping that tonight for a new career-high. Greenman had a season-high nine points and tied his career-high with eight rebounds. Flynn’s four assists are a season high. Huber set a new career-high with eight rebounds. The Scots outscored Lake Forest 40-22 in the second half. Monmouth outrebounded the Foresters 41-25 The Scots shot 53.2% for the game and 58.6% in the second half. Monmouth held Lake Forest to 26.5% shooting in the second half including 3-of-18 (16.7%) from 3-point range. The Scots are 38-54 all-time against Lake Forest. Monmouth swept the season series last year and are 6-4 in the last 10 games.. The Scots are home on Saturday with the Tartan Throwdown and a 1 p.m. game against Beloit.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
