by Nathan Baliva
MONMOUTH, ILL. (01/10/2026) The Monmouth College men’s basketball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back with an 87-55 blowout at Beloit on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (11-4, 6-0) will host Grinnell (10-2, 5-0) on Tuesday with first place on the line.
Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) put the Scots up 4-0 before Beloit scored five in a row for their only lead of the day. Maring made two free throws for the lead and added another basket as Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) also scored twice. A 3-pointer by Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) and another one from Jase Whiteman (Andalusia, Illinois) put the Scots up 21-8. Beloit went nine minutes without a basket and Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois) added three points while Whiteman scored again for a 28-8 lead.
Beloit finally stopped the 18-0 run with a bucket but Whiteman hit another 3-pointer and Maring scored inside. Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) hit two three throws and a jumper and Thomas scored four points for a 44-23 lead. After Beloit scored, Whiteman hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 47-23 halftime lead.
The Scots started the second half with five points from Brown and two free throws by Maring. Huber scored and Brown hit two shots in a row for a 61-30 lead. Brown scored again as did Maring and the lead grew to 32 before Beloit made a little run. Thomas stopped the run with a bucket and scored again before Payton Crims (Alsip, Illinois) made two free throws and a layup for a 77-50 lead. Connor Watson (Macomb, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer with 2:19 to play and Nick Plesko (Streator, Illinois) followed with a 3-pointer for an 83-53 lead. Beloit scored before Adam Waite (Earlville, Illinois) and Ivan Iverson (Bettendorf, Iowa) finished off the scoring with baskets.
Brown led the Scots with 18 points and five rebounds while also adding two blocks. Whiteman scored a career-high 15 points while Maring added 14 and Thomas scored 13. Taylor had five rebounds and two assists and Huber led the Scots with four steals.
***Recap and photo courtesy of Monmouth College Athletics***
