All Five Starters in Double Digits as Scots Beat Red Devils

Monmouth sweeps Eureka in season series

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (12/19/2024) — All five starters scored at least 12 points as the Monmouth College men's basketball team knocked off Eureka College 80-73 at home on Wednesday night. The Fighting Scots (7-2) swept Eureka on the season and will play one more game before the New Year.

Eureka took a 4-0 lead as the Scots went more than three minutes without a basket. Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) drilled a corner 3-pointer and Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) hit a jumper. Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) made two free throws to cut the Eureka lead to 10-7 and Brown scored again. Hill hit a 3-pointer for a 12-10 lead and Brown capped a 9-0 run with a putback. Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) scored in the lane and Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) made a layup to put the Scots up three. Maring scored again before Brennen McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) made a free throw. Taylor drilled a pair of 3-pointers to give the Scots a 28-21 advantage.

Cam Thomas (Arlington, Texas) and Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) made free throws for a 31-23 lead. Brown converted a traditional 3-point play to put the Scots up by 11 and after the visitors scored, Taylor drilled another 3-pointer. Thomas scored on a great feed from Brown for a fastbreak layup and a 39-25 lead. Hill found Thomas for another fast break, and this time the freshman used a 1-handed dunk for a 41-25 lead. The teams traded buckets to end the half with Monmouth on top 43-28.

Brown started the second half with a layup and Thomas made two free throws. Eureka scored the next four before Flynn scored on an in-bounds play. Taylor hit a pair of free throws for a 51-38 lead before the Red Devils answered at the line. The Red Devils cut the lead to nine with 12:06 to play. Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) made a free throw before Eureka hit a 3-pointer and Flynn answered with a layup. Hill pushed the lead to 13 with a runner in the lane and Flynn added a bucket in the lane.

Thomas converted a 3-point play for a 66-52 lead with just under six minutes to play. Eureka went on a 5-0 run before Maring scored on an up-and-under layup and added a free throw. Flynn scored on a layup to put all five starters in double figures. Thomas put the Scots back up by 11 with a layup. Eureka scored four points in a row before Flynn's layup made it 75-66 with 1:20 to play. Up seven, Hill split free throws with 58 seconds left and the Red Devils came up empty. Thomas split free throws and Eureka scored with 21 seconds left for a 77-70 game. Hill made two free throws but Eureka scored again with 11 seconds left. Hill finished the scoring with one more free throw.

Hill led the Scots with 16 points while Thomas and Taylor had 13. Brown and Flynn both scored 12 points while Maring added seven. Hill grabbed eight rebounds, one more than Flynn, Taylor had three steals, Thomas had two blocks and Flynn led the Scots with three assists.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The game featured 46 personal fouls, a double technical and 59 free throw attempts ... Brown has scored at least 10 points in eight games this season ... Hill has made at least two 3's in a game six times this season ... Taylor has 101 career 3-pointers made, reaching the top 15 in school history ... He was 4-for-4 at the line ... The game had just one lead change and the Scots led by as many as 18 points ... Monmouth was 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the second half after going 5-for-14 in the first half ... The Scots were 23-of-39 (.590) at the free throw line, their most makes, misses and attempts of the season ... The previous highs for makes (22) and attempts (29) came against Beloit on Dec. 8 ... Monmouth swept the season series and leads the all-time series 33-12 ... The Scots went 4-1 against SLIAC teams this season ... The Scots will play at Aurora on Dec. 30 ... The next home game is at 3 p.m. on New Year's Day against Rockford.