Metcalf Delivers Double-Double in Scots Loss

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, ill. (11/12/2022) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team played their first road game of the season on Saturday and fell at Blackburn College 84-65. The Scots (1-1) led by three at halftime and got a double-double from senior Jordan Metcalf (Aledo, Illinois) in the loss.

Blackburn jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes. The Scots chipped away and took their first lead of the game at 14-13 on a 3-pointer from Kendall Brasfield (Chicago, Illinois). After trading buckets, the Scots went on a 7-0 run to take a 27-21 lead. Jordan Hill (Roscoe, Illinois) and Metcalf had buckets on either side of Kyle Taylor's (Moline, Illinois) first career 3-pointer. Metcalf's free throw pushed the lead to 28-21 before the Beavers scored four in a row.

Metcalf's bucket with 1:58 to play in the half but the Scots up 38-30, their largest lead of the game. But Blackburn went on a 7-2 run to end the half with Monmouth taking a 40-37 lead into the locker rooms. Metcalf, who had 28 against Blackburn last December, had 17 points in the first half on 8-of-10 shooting.

Blackburn started the second half on a 5-0 run before David Williams (Loves Park, Illinois) scored to tie the game at 42. Brasfield scored on the next two possessions but Blackburn answered for a 46-46 tie. The Beavers went on a 7-0 run, ended by a Metcalf offensive rebound dunk. Blackburn scored seven of the next nine points and led 62-50 with 8:54 to play.

Monmouth got the deficit back to single digits on a layup by Hill with 6:39 to play. But the Beavers kept scoring and pushed the lead back to 11, then 13 and with 2:38 to play they led by 15. A pair of turnovers led to fast-break dunks for the Beavers as they went up 19 before Williams made a 3-pointer with 1:33 to play. Both teams emptied the benches from there and Blackburn grabbed the final points for an 84-65 win.

Metcalf was 11-of-16 from the field and led the Scots with 24 points, 13 rebounds and two steals for his second double-double of the season. Brasfield had 16 points and Williams had eight while Hill led the Scots with four assists.

Monmouth was beaten on the glass 40-35 and had five more turnovers in the game than Blackburn did. The Scots shot 50% from the field in the first half but just 35% in the second half. Monmouth was 7-of-14 from the line in the game while the Beavers were 22-fpr-27. The Scots return home for a 6 p.m. game against Central Christian College of the Bible on Monday.