Scots Fall to Grinnell in MWC Championship Game

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill (02/28/2026) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team couldn't get the offense going at all on Saturday and lost the Midwest Conference Championship game to Grinnell 85-56. The Fighting Scots (20-7) shot just 30.6 percent from the field and didn't make a 3-pointer for the first 28 minutes of game action in the loss.

Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) made a free throw on the first possession and Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) tied the game at 3-3. Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) put the Scots on top before Grinnell hit a 3-pointer. Thomas scored again as the teams traded buckets and he added two free throws. The Pioneers hit another 3-pointer for a 13-9 lead and they added two more buckets at the rim. Down eight, Thomas scored on a baseline drive but Grinnell pushed the lead to 21-11 as Brown picked up his second foul with 8:30 to play in the half.

Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) stopped the Pioneers run with a bucket and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) got the Scots within seven with his first basket. Maring added a free throw but Brown picked up a third foul after returning to the game. Payton Crims (Alsip, Illinois) made a free throw and Taylor added two at the line. Down 15, Maring made Monmouth's first field goal in six minutes and Thomas added a bucket to end the half with Grinnell up 40-23.

Brown scored four quick points to start the second half but Grinnell pushed the lead to 48-27. Brown scored again before a 7-0 Pioneers run. Thomas scored eight of Monmouth's next nine points with the deficit growing to 28 with 12:00 to play. Taylor hit a 3-pointer and Thomas threw down a dunk in a 5-0 Monmouth run. Julian Samuels (Annawan, Illinois) hit three straight 3-pointers in a two-minute span to cut the lead to 75-54. Brown's dunk made it a 19-point game with 5:21 left, but the Scots didn't score again. Grinnell scored the final nine points and cut down the nets for the second straight season.

Thomas led the Scots with 20 points while Samuels and Brown had nine. Brown led the way with 11 rebounds and Thomas added seven. Huber had three assists and Samuels had three steals.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The only game this season with less than 56 points was the season-opening 71-55 loss to MillikinBrown had scored in double digits in a school-record 36 straight games before being held to a season-low nine on SaturdayBrown moved pats Don Tanney and Bill Lavery into sixth on the points in a season list with 515Thomas has scored at least 10 points in 21 straight games and he has 25 double digit games this seasonTaylor moved into third on the 3-pointers attempted in a career list and fifth in free throws madeThe teams split the two regular season matchupsThe Fighting Scots lead the all-time series 92-68 with a 10-5 mark in the last 15The Scots are 15-15 against Grinnell under Coach Skrivseth.