The Monmouth College men’s basketball team opened the 2024-25 campaign with a 93-79 win over Westminster College on Wednesday night. The Scots (1-0) got 27 points from newcomer Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) to lead three players in double figures.
Westminster jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer. Brown hit a pair of free throws and buckets from Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) and Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) gave the Scots a 9-8 lead. Brown scored Monmouth’s next six points and Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer for a 19-13 lead. The Bluejays scored their first bucket in five minutes with 9:19 to go in the half to cut the Scots lead to 19-15.
Monmouth scored the next 12 points with a 3 -pointer by Brown, a layup by Taylor and six straight points by Brown. A layup by the Bluejays ended the run before newcomer Kamran Banks (Springfield, Illinois) scored his first Monmouth bucket and Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer. Leading 36-19, Taylor hit a 3-pointer and Brown went over the 20-point plateau with two buckets for a 44-19 lead. The Bluejays went on a 10-0 run before Taylor hit his third 3-pointer of the half. Hill hit a 3-pointer for a 50-31 lead with 30 seconds left in the half and the visitors answered with a 3-pointer to set the halftime score at 50-34.
Maring scored Monmouth’s first basket of the second half before Greenman made two free throws and Brown made a layup. Hill scored six straight points, including a 4-point play, for a 62-47 lead. Huber scored and free throws by Brennen McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) gave the Scots a 66-52 lead. Freshman Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) scored his first career basket on a nifty lay-up and Hill scored four in a row. Huber scored again before HIll hit a 3-pointer and pushed the lead to 71-58. Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois) scored at the rim and Maring made a pair of free throws with 6:00 to play.
Monmouth pushed the lead back to 20 as Thomas made a layup and Brown scored four points in a row. Westminster hit a free throw to end the 8-0 Monmouth lead before Taylor hit two free throws. Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) scored to push the Scots over 90 points for a 91-69 lead. Jadyn Ellison (Hudson, Illinois) hit a jumper before the Bluejays scored the final six points of the game.
Brown led the Scots with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and he made all five of his free throws. Hill added 18 points and Taylor had 13 as both made three 3-pointers. Huber scored eight points and Maring added seven. Plumer led the Scots with seven rebounds in just 15 minutes off the bench while Maring grabbed six boards. Taylor handed out six assists and Maring blocked two shots.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Brown and Thomas made their collegiate debuts while Banks made his Monmouth debut … The 27 points by Brown would have been the second-highest scoring output by a Fighting Scots player last season and the most in regulation as Hill scored 34 in a double OT win against Aurora … Hill scored in double digits 18 times last season and Taylor did so 13 times … Hill tied his career high with three 3-pointers … Taylor tied his career high with six assists and Maring tied his rebounding career high, also against Westminster, with six … Monmouth was 17-for-19 (.895) at the free throw line and knocked down 10-of-27 (.370) from behind the 3-point line … The Scots forced 15 turnovers while committing just eight … Monmouth won the rebounding battle 35-32 and grabbed 12 offensive boards … The biggest lead was 25 at 44-19 and the Scots led for all but the first 3:14 of the game … Monmouth won at Westminster last year and lead the all-time series 6-1 … The Scots are 7-6 in season openers under Skrivseth … The Scots play at Blackburn on Saturday with a 2 p.m. start … The next home game is Tuesday, Nov. 26 against Dubuque.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
