The Monmouth College men’s basketball season ended in heartbreak at home on Friday with an 81-79 loss to Lake Forest in the Midwest Conference Tournament semifinal. The Fighting Scots end their season at 20-6 while #4 Lake Forest will play #2 Grinnell in Saturday’s final.
Lake Forest scored the first six points before Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer and Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) scored in the paint. Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) gave the Scots a 7-6 lead with a layup. Hill scored five straight on a layup and a 3-pointer before Lake Forest scored eight straight to lead 18-12. Brown and Cam Thomas (Arlington, Texas) scored but Lake Forest answered each bucket and added a free throw. Brennen McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) made a layup but the Foresters pushed the lead to 25-20.
Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) tied the game with a personal 5-0 run on a layup and 3-pointer. Flynn buried another 3-pointer for a 28-27 lead and Brown made a free throw. Thomas scored five in a row for the Scots for a 34-29 lead. Hill hit a 3-pointer as did Flynn for a 40-29 halftime lead.
Brown started the second half with two free throws and a bucket in the lane. Hill, Brown and Flynn scored at the bucket for a 50-38 lead. Thomas answered a Lake Forest 3-pointer before Brown scored again in the paint. Lake Forest went on a 7-2 run to cut the Monmouth lead to seven with 11:30 to play. The Foresters continued their run with a host of Monmouth turnovers and trimmed the lead to 59-57.
Taylor hit a pair of free throws with 9:00 to play but Lake Forest answered after a technical foul on the Monmouth bench. Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) scored on a jumper but Lake Forest hit a 3-pointer and took the lead at 64-63. McNally hit a 3-pointer but Lake Forest regained the lead. Flynn scored with 4:45 to play but the Foresters hit another 3-pointer to lead 70-68. Brown tied the game for the Fighting Scots and scored again for a 72-70 lead.
Lake Forest scored four straight and Brown tied the game at 74 with under 2:00 to play. Lake Forest scored a bucket and made a free throw to lead 77-74 with 1:15 left. Thomas scored out of a timeout but the Foresters answered. Hill split free throws with 30.9 seconds left and Lake Forest turned the ball over. Brown missed at the rim and Lake Forest made two free throws with 5.9 seconds left. Hill scored with 1.3 seconds left but the Foresters ran out the clock to win 81-79.
Brown led the Scots with 23 points while both Flynn and Hill had 15 and Thomas added 12. Brown led the team with eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Taylor had Monmouth’s only steal.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Monmouth went 11-2 at home this season with the other loss against Dubuque on Nov. 26Brown had 23 double-digit scoring games, including 11 straightHis 23 games with at least 10 points ranks sixth on the Monmouth single-season listHe had 11 games with at least 20 pointsHe passed Bud McRoberts (1960-61) and Jim Thornton (1981-82) to finish 11th on the single-season scoring list with 473 pointsBrown moved past Scott Shaver (1983-83) and Jordan Metcalf (2022-23) to finish 10th on the season rebounds list with 235He also moved into a tie for eighth with on the single-season blocks list with 35Thomas scored in double digits 17 times this season and Flynn did so 14 timesTaylor moved into sixth on the career steals list with 111 and into a tie for ninth on the career 3PM list with 121Flynn is the first player in school history to play in 100 career gamesThe Scots last won 11 straight games in 1989-90Lake Forest leads the all-time series 56-40Monmouth swept the regular season series and are 6-4 in the last 10The Scots eliminated Lake Forest in the 2018 semifinals in Glennie GymCoach Skrivseth is 14-14 against the Foresters, 6-8 at homeThe MWC Championship game is Saturday at 3 p.m. in Glennie Gym as Lake Forest (14-12) faces Grinnell (19-7).
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
