Monmouth Men's Hoops Drop Home Finale

Ewald scores 17 in losing effort

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/16/2022) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team fought til the end but lost their final home game of the season 75-69 to Cornell on Tuesday night. The Scots (3-19, 2-12) lost all three games to first-place Cornell this season.

Cornell hit a couple shots early with the Scots hanging close with buckets from WIll Ewald (Lincoln, Illinois) and Yuvraj Sidhu (Coppell, Texas). Halfway through the first half, Cornell led 16-12 before completing a 3-point play.

Cornell scored to push the lead to nine before Monmouth got a 4-0 run of their own. Cornell went on top 28-16 before Brian Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer. The Rams went on top 35-21 but the Scots closed the half on a 6-0 run to go into the locker room down 35-27.

The Rams scored two buckets to start the half and led 39-27 when Briar Greenman scored five straight points. Ewald also had a 5-0 run and Jordan Metcalf (Aledo, Illinois) scored inside as the Scots forced a Cornell timeout with the lead cut to four at 43-39.

The Rams came out of the timeout with back-to-back 3-pointers to go back up by 10. Ewald and Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) scored to get the Scots back to within six. After Cornell scored, Ewald got a 3-point play to make the score 56-51 Rams.

Ganon Greenman buried a 3-pointer on the wing to get Monmouth within four and the Rams turned the ball over on a charge. Jonathan Oradiegwu (Richmond, Texas) got his own rebound, scored and was fouled. He converted the free throw to cut the Rams lead to 58-57, closest the game had been since 5-4.

Cornell scored the next six points, with three coming at the free throw line. Monmouth called timeout with 7:12 to play, trailing 64-58. Cornell got the lead back to eight before Metcalf made a pair of free throws and blocked a shot. Kendall Brasfield (Chicago, Illinois) scored to get the lead down to four.

Monmouth trailed by six with just over a minute to play, with the ball. A missed corner 3-pointer and a Rams basket on a put-back made it an 8-point game with 50 seconds. Cornell split free throws and Oradiegwu hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left for the 75-69 final.

Ewald led the Scots with 17 points while Metcalf had 13. Oradiegwu had 12 and Briar Greenman had 10 as Monmouth put four in double figures. Metcalf led the Scots with eight rebounds while Brasfield had seven.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Ewald has scored in double figures in four straight gamesBrian Greenman tied his career high with 10 pointsWith four blocks, Metcalf has 41 on the season, tied with Pat Quinlan (1989-93) for the fourth most in a single-season in Scots historyHe has three games with at least four blocks on the seasonThe Scots went 2-9 at home this seasonThe final two games are on the road, rescheduled from JanuaryMonmouth plays at Ripon Friday at 5:30 p.m. and at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lawrence.