The Monmouth College men’s basketball team scored a season-low 39 points in a 71-39 loss to No. 25 Illinois College at home on Wednesday.
The visitors hit a 3-pointer on their first possession and the Scots answered with a bucket by Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois). Ryne Schimmel (Moline, Illinois) got the start and converted a 3-point play to tie the game at 5-5. Taylor answered IC buckets to tie the game at both 7-7 and 9-9. Schimmel made a basket with 13:42 to play in the half to cut the IC lead to 12-11 but the Scots didn’t make another field goal in the half. The only point in a 21-1 IC run was a free throw by Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois) with 7:15 left in the half.
The Blueboys scored the first four points of the second half to go up 37-12 before Plumer scored. After a 13-0 run by IC, the Scots got buckets from Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) and Taylor. Brennen McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) scored and Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer to cut the IC lead to 59-25. McNally scored seven straight points for the Scots and IC led 65-32 with 7:00 to play. Damarian Stark (Roscoe, Illinois) made two free throws for a 65-34 game and later added another free throw. Stark made a layup for a 67-37 before the Blueboys scored again in the paint. Oscar Alcobendas (Espartinas, Spain) knocked down a jumper in the lane and IC scored for a 71-39 final.
McNally led the Scots with 10 points off bench while Taylor had nine points. Both Schimmel and Stark scored five points while Schimmel led the team with four rebounds.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots tied a school record low with 12 points in the first half. The 39 points is the lowest since an 82-38 loss to Cornell in the 2021-22 season. Stark scored a career-high five points. Alcobendas made his first college field goal. Jay Brown (Lansing, Illinois), Brock Card (Edwards, Illinois) and Payton Crims (Alsip, Illinois) made their Monmouth debuts and Brennan Horton-Lee (Rockford, Illinois) made his home debut. Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) had three steals. IC won the battle of the boards 48-31. The Scots are home again on Sunday against Alma College with a 2 p.m. start.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
