The Monmouth College men’s basketball team tied the game halfway through the second half but ultimately lost at home to Dubuque 86-78 on Tuesday night. The Fighting Scots (3-1) return to action after the Thanksgiving break with a pair of Midwest Conference games.
Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) got the scoring started with a free throw and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) scored inside for a 3-3 tie. The Spartans scored the next nine points before
Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer. Brennan McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) and Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) both scored immediately after entering the game and McNally threw down a thunderous dunk from the wing. Dubuque punished the lead to 19-13 before Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) scored five points in a row.
Taylor and Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) made free throws but Dubuque pushed the lead to 31-21 and then 36-25 as Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer. Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) knocked down a 3-pointer but the Spartans took their largest lead of the game at 44-27. Hill hit another 3-pointer and Brown scored as Monmouth cut the lead to 12. Brown buried a 3-pointer and Flynn made two free throws before hitting consecutive layups. McNally scored with 28 seconds left, trimming Dubuque’s lead to 52-45 as Monmouth ended the half on an 18-8 run.
Hill scored the first four points of the second half to cut the Spartans lead to 52-49. Taylor answered a Spartans basket but the deficit grew to 59-51. Brown scored on a scoop layup and Thomas drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to cut the lead to five. Thomas hit another 3-pointer and Hill scored on a putback to trim the Spartans lead to 62-61. After a DU free throw, Maring tied the game with a bucket in the lane but the Spartans hit their 11th 3-pointer of the night.
The Scots trailed by five when Huber scored on a putback. Dubuque went on a 5-0 run that included a free throw after a technical foul called on the Monmouth bench. Brown scored on a layup but the Spartans hit another 3-pointer to lead 74-67. Brown scored in traffic and then hit a 3-pointer to cut the DU lead to 75-72. The Spartans hit another 3-pointer and Flynn scored in the lane with just over 3:00 to play. Dubuque hit a pair of free throws to lead 80-74 with 1:53 remaining and the Scots turned the ball over. The Spartans made six straight free throws as the Scots turned the ball over twice. Hill made a pair of free throws and Monmouth called timeout with 33 seconds left and a 84-76 deficit. The Spartans hit two more free throws and finished off the scoring at 86-76.
Brown led the Scots with 15 points while Thomas had 12. Hill (11), Taylor (11) and Flynn (10) were also in double digits in scoring. Hill and Thomas both had six rebounds while Huber led the Scots with two assists.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Hill and Brown have been in double figures all four games this season … Taylor was 4-for-4 at the free throw line and is 18-for-20 in the last three games … Monmouth was outrebounded for the first time this season, 34-32 … Thomas was 3-for-4 from 3-point range … Dubuque hit 11 3-pointers and they were 8-for-15 in the first half … Dubuque leads the all-time series 6-0 including a 77-60 home win last November … All six meetings have come since 2012 … The Spartans won in Monmouth 77-74 in Nov. 2022 … The Scots host Lake Forest next Tuesday (Dec. 3) in the MWC opener … The men’s game will be the second game in the double header after the 5:30 p.m. women’s game between the Scots and Foresters.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
