The Monmouth College men’s basketball team put three players in double digits and won their second straight game to start the season with a 72-58 win at Blackburn on Saturday. The Scots (2-0) have knocked off two SLIAC teams to start the season and play another one on Monday at Eureka.
“I thought we did a very good job on the defensive end of the floor today,” said head coach Todd Skrivseth. “We were strong on the ball and stayed connected throughout the game. They gave us an interesting look on defense that we don’t really see but we found our rhythm and were able to take control.”
Blackburn led 5-0 before Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) made two free throws. Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) made the first field goal but the Beavers led 11-4 when Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) converted a layup. Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) scored and Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) hit a 3-pointer to trim the lead to one. Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) followed with a 3-pointer to give Monmouth their first lead at 14-12. Hill hit another 3-pointer as did Thomas with the Scots leading 20-15. The lead grew to 26-17 as Thomas slammed home a dunk and made a layup. Brown and Kamran Banks (Springfield, Illinois) scored to push the lead to 30-23 before the Beavers hit a 3-pointer to close the half.
Blackburn went on 6-2 run to start the half and they took the lead at 35-34 after Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) scored on a layup. The teams traded the lead with a tie at 44 and 47 before Brown scored to put Monmouth on top for good with 8:27 to play. Thomas hit a pair of free throws and then a layup after a steal by Taylor. Thomas and Brown scored again to push the lead to nine and Taylor made it 59-49 with free throws. Flynn knocked down two free throws and Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) split free throws for a 64-49 lead. Brown, Taylor and Thomas each made two free throws to ice the game with the 72-58 win.
“Cam Thomas played a huge role off the bench today and Declan really stepped up with us playing without Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois),” said Skrivseth. “They didn’t have an answer for Zay either.”
Thomas led the Scots with 18 points while Brown had 17 and Hill added 11. Brown had eight rebounds while Flynn added seven. Taylor led the Scots with five assists and three steals. Flynn also had three three steals and Thomas led the Scots with two blocks.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Thomas was 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line…Hill made three 3-pointers for the second straight game, tying his career high…Taylor was 6-for-6 at the free throw line…All 10 players who saw the court on Saturday scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound…Monmouth was 20-for-26 (.769) at the free throw line but made just 6-of-22 (.273) from behind the 3-point line…The Scots forced 17 turnovers that led to 22 points…Monmouth won the rebounding battle 45-31 and grabbed 12 offensive boards…The Scots scored 32 points in the paint…The last time the Scots were 2-0 was in Nov. 2019 when they started the season 6-0…Monmouth beat Blackburn at home 79-70 last season and lead the all-time series 5-2…The Scots play at Eureka on Monday before an exhibition game at WIU on Thursday…The next home game is Tuesday, Nov. 26 against Dubuque.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
