Scots Lose with 0.4 Second Left, Finish 2nd in MWC

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/22/2026) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team missed out on a chance to repeat as conference champions as two free throws with 0.4 seconds on the clock gave Illinois College a 63-62 win on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (19-6, 14-2) led the Midwest Conference nearly wire-to-wire but finish a game behind Grinnell and will head to Iowa next weekend as the No. 2 seed in the MWC Tournament. .

The game got off to a slow start with Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois).and Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) hitting field goals for a 5-5 tie after three minutes. Brown scored again and Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) hit a 3-pointer for a 12-11 lead after eight minutes. Jase Whiteman (Andalusia, Illinois) scored, Brown hit two jumpers and Taylor added a bucket for a 20-14 Monmouth lead. The hosts scored the next five before Brown and Thomas made free throws. IC took the lead at 24-23 and then made a 3-pointer before Brown scored to close the half.

Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer to start the second half and put the Scots back on top. Thomas made two free throws and Brown scored as the Scots held IC scoreless for the first two minutes. Huber put the Scots up 34-30 and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) made a free throw. Brown, Thomas and Whiteman all scored to answer IC buckets and Monmouth led 41-38. The Blueboys scored seven straight before Maring made a layup. Down 52-45, Brown hit two free throws and completed a 3-point play to reach the 20-point mark. Brown and Taylor scored again but IC pushed the lead to 61-54 with 2:20 to play,

Maring hit four free throws, and Thomas made one, to pull Monmouth within two.. After an IC miss, Taylor hit a long jumper to tie the game with just under a minute to play. IC called timeout but Taylor stole the ball, drove to the basket and got fouled with 17 seconds left. He missed the first and made the second for a 62-61 Monmouth lead and IC called timeout with eight seconds left, They missed a layup and the putback before Ty Lenhardt threw up a desperation shot and was fouled with 0.4 seconds left. He made both free throws for a 63-62 lead and Monmouth called timeout. Huber threw the ball to Brown at mid court but his heave wouldn't go down and the Scots fell by one point.

Brown led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds for another double-double. Thomas scored 12 points and Taylor added 11. Brown blocked three shots, Taylor had three steals and they both had two assists.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Brown has scored in double digits in every game he has played this season and now holds the school record by scoring in double digits in 35 straight games dating back to last season ... His 24 straight double digit games this season in also a single-season record ... Thomas has scored at least 10 points in 19 straight games and he has 23 double digit games this seasonBrown moved into 11th on the single-season rebound list passing Jordan Metcalf ... He is now 12th on the single-season points list and ranks second to Will Jones in games with at least 10 points in a single season ... The Scots beat IC at home 74-72 in overtime in December ... Monmouth leads the all-time series 75-30 ... Monmouth is 9-6 in the last 15 meetings ... The teams split last year with the home team winning both games ... The Scots are 17-11 against IC under coach Skrivseth with a 7-7 mark in Jacksonville ... The Scots will play Lake Forest on Friday in the first semifinal at the MWC Tournament in Grinnell ... The Scots swept the Foresters this season, including a home win last week, but lost to LFC in the MWC Semifinals last year.