Brown, Taylor Lead Scots Past Foresters

Monmouth Wins 14 MWC games for second straight season

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/19/2026) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team withstood a furious comeback to beat Lake Forest 94-85 on Wednesday night. The first-place Fighting Scots (19-5, 14-1) head into Saturday's regular season finale needing a win to clinch at least a share of the MWC title.

"A big win tonight against a dangerous Lake Forest team," said head coach Todd Skrivseth. "At times I thought we played very well on both ends of the floor. They gave us multiple looks on defense and we did a nice job of attacking against the man and zones. We were also outstanding on the glass in the first half with a sizeable advantage."

Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) made a free throw for an early lead and scored again for a 3-2 advantage. Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) hit a baseline jumper and Kamran Banks (Springfield, Illinois) scored on a feed by Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois). Thomas tied the game and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) put the Scots up 11-9 on a putback, Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois) made it 13-12 with a move in the lane. The visitors took a 14-13 lead before the Scots went on a 10-0 run. Brown threw down a dunk, Thomas hit a 3-pointer and Connor Watson (Macomb, Illinois) drilled a corner 3-ball. Brown blocked a shot and converted a layup at the other end for a 23-14 lead.

After LFC scored with 10 minutes left in the half, Watson had a strip and layup and Brown hit a jumper for a 27-16 lead. Taylor made a bank shot and Payton Crims (Alsip, Illinois) scored on a layup for a 31-18 lead. The Foresters scored the next four points and Monmouth called timeout. Taylor splashed a 3-pointer out of the break and Maring scored at the rim for a 36-22 lead with 4:29 to play in the half. Taylor hit another 3-pointer and scored in the lane to get into double digits. Crims hit a corner 3-pointer and Monmouth led 44-29 before the Foresters answered with a layup. Crims hit a pair of free throws with 1:45 to play in the half and Banks scored late in the half for a 48-34 lead.

"We got some really good minutes from our bench tonight, particularly Connor and Turner," said Skrivseth. "Both had great plus-minus minutes for us."

Taylor started the second half with a layup and Brown hit a long two before LFC made three free throws. Thomas threw down a dunk off a steal and Maring scored at the rim for a 56-39 lead. Brown scored on a fast break before hitting a free throw line jumper for a 62-41 lead. Brown hit another long jumper before Plumer made a free throw after a flagrant foul. Jase Whiteman (Andalusia, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer for a 68-47 lead before the Foresters made two free throws. Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) made two free throws but the Foresters went on a big run to pull within eight at the 7-minute mark.

"We got a little careless with the ball in the second half and that allowed LFC to cut into the lead but we played well down the stretch," said Skrivseth. "Kyle hit some big shots for us. Cam and Zay continued their outstanding play after dealing with some early foul trouble."

Brown made a free throw but LFC scored to cut the lead to 72-65. Taylor drained a 3-pointer and LFC scored at the rim. Brown got to 20 points with a layup but the Scots turned it over twice in a row. Lake Forest converted a 4-point play with 3:17 to play as they pulled within six. Brown converted a 3-point play and Taylor hit a 3-pointer after Lake Forest scored on a putback. Thomas knocked down a corner 3-pointer with 58 seconds left for an 86-76 lead. The Foresters scored and Huber hit two free throws with 46 seconds left. Lake Forest scored and called timeout before Brown threw down a dunk. After a miss by LFC, Taylor knocked down a pair of free throws to get to 20 points on the night. Lake Forest scored again and Huber made free throws with seven seconds left for a 94-83 lead.

Brown led the way with 25 points and 10 rebounds for another double-double. Taylor scored a season-high 20 points while Thomas added 14. Taylor also had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Maring also grabbed seven boards and Brown blocked two shots.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots last won 19 games in consecutive seasons in 1988-89/1989-90 and this marks the first time the Scots have ever won 14 or more conference games in consecutive seasons ... Taylor moved past Declan Flynn (2021-25) for the all-time record in games played at 101 ... Taylor moved past Don Campbell into 21st on the career scoring list with 1037 points ... He also moved into a tie for fifth with Robert Richmond on the career 3-pointers made list with 153 and sixth on the attempts list with 431 ... Taylor jumped over two players and is tied with Michael DeDecker (2012-13) for sixth on the single-season assists list ... Brown has scored in double digits in every game he has played this season and now holds the school record by scoring in double digits in 34 straight games dating back to last season ... His 23 straight double digit games this season ties the Monmouth record ... Thomas has scored at least 10 points in 18 straight games and he has 22 double digit games this season ... With 66 wins the senior class has the most wins by any senior class since 1993 and tied with the class of 1983 for the fifth most in a 4-year span in Scots history ... Monmouth swept the season series but Lake Forest leads the all-time series 56-42 ... Last year the Scots won both regular season games but LFC won in the MWC Tournament ... The Scots are 16-14 against Lake Forest under coach Skrivseth with a 7-8 mark at home ... The regular season finishes Saturday with a 1 p.m. tip at Illinois College ... Monmouth clinches a share of the regular season title with a win and they clinch the #1 seed and hosting privileges with a win and a Grinnell loss to Cornell ... If both teams win, the conference will conduct a coin flip on Saturday night to determine the #1 seed and host.