Brown, Thomas Lead Scots Past Vikings

Monmouth 3-0 in MWC for first time in eight years

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (12/13/2025) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team pulled away down the stretch to stay unbeaten in conference play with an 81-75 home win over Lawrence on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (7-2, 3-0) got 24 points each from Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) and Cam Thomas (Arlington, Texas) in the win.

"This was a great win for our team today against a good Lawrence team," said head coach Todd Skrivseth. "It wasn't pretty but we were able to make some plays and get some stops down the stretch to seal the win. Thank you to everyone who helped run the game and braving the elements so we could play this afternoon."

Brown scored the first bucket of the game and Thomas made it 4-0 with a driving layup. Lawrence hit three free throws early before buckets from Brown and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) made it 8-5. Payton Crims (Alsip, Illinois) and Thomas both converted 3-point plays for a 15-7 lead. Brown answered a Vikings bucket for a 17-9 lead and Maring ended a 5-0 run with a 3-pointer. Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) made a layup as did Brown for a 26-18 lead. Lawrence pulled within two before Kam Banks (Springfield, Illinois) hit two free throws. Brown scored again but Lawrence went on a run to lead 34-32. Thomas hit a 3-pointer before the Vikings took a 39-35 lead and Brown scored the last bucket of the half.

"We knew they were a really good team," said Thomas. "We got them twice last year and it was good we got one tonight too."

Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) started the second half with a 3-pointer before Lawurence scored five in a row to lead 44-40. Maring scored four points in a row and Huber tied the game at 46 with a bucket. Brown tied the game twice with buckets and Thomas did as well with neither team leading by more than two. Taylor hit a free throw line jumper for a 58-57 lead and buckets by Brown and Julian Samuels (Annawan, Illinois) put the Scots up five with 7:49 to play.

"Zay was a force all afternoon on the offensive end and the glass," said Skrivseth. "Cam Thomas was big in the second half and had his best overall game of the season."

The Vikings pulled within two before Thomas hit a 3-pointer and Brown scored for a 67-60 lead. The Vikings hit a 3-pointer but so did Thomas for a 72-66 lead. The Vikings scored the next five points for a 1-point game before Maring scored in the lane. Lawrence missed a game-tying 3-pointer and Brown scored for a 77-71 lead. Brown was fouled on the play and had to leave the game with injury. The Vikings scored before Thomas hit two free throws with 12.7 seconds left for a 79-73 lead. The Vikings scored on a layup and called timeout with 6.5 seconds left before Thomas made two more free throws to end the scoring.

""We've worked on a lot of plays to get shooters open and I was fortunate to knock the shots down," said Thomas.

Thomas and Brown both scored 24 points while Maring added 14. Brown tied his season high with 16 rebounds while Taylor dished out six assists. Samuels led Monmouth with two steals and Thomas had two blocks.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Samuels has two steals in all three of his games ... Brown and Thomas both scored a season-high 24 pointsBrown tied his season best with 16 rebounds and he has two double-doubles on the season ... Brown has scored at least 20 points in four games and double digits in all 10 games ... Thomas has scored at least 12 points in three straight games ... Maring has been in double figures in all nine games this season ... He also grabbed his 200th career rebound ... Taylor moved past Robert Richmond (1990-95) for fourth in career 3-pointers attempted with 378 ... The Scots were 12-for-14 at the free throw line ... Monmouth out rebounded Lawrence 42-32 and out scored the Vikings 23-13 on second chance points ... The last time the Scots started 3-0 in conference play was 2017-18 when they won their first six MWC contests ... Monmouth leads the all-time series 79-49 ... The Scots are 11-14 against Lawrence under coach Skrivseth with a 7-6 mark at home including four straight home wins ... Monmouth swept the 2024-25 season series with a 69-61 home win ... The Scots are home again on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Blackburn ... The next MWC game is Jan. 3 at Cornell.