Scots Rally from 17 Down to Stun Cornell on Saturday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (01/03/2026) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team returned to Midwest Conference action on Saturday and rallied from 17 points down with 9:33 to play for a 70-67 win at Cornell (1-11, 0-3). The Fighting Scots (9-5, 4-0) ended a 2-game losing streak and are 4-0 in MWC play for the first time in eight years.

Neither team scored for the first 70 seconds before Cam Thomas (Arlington, Texas) made a free throw and Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) made a layup. Cornell tied the game before Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer. Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer and Taylor made another as the Scots took a 14-5 lead. The Scots didn't score for the next five minutes and Cornell went on a 14-0 run to lead 19-14. Kam Banks (Springfield, Illinois) ended the run with a layup and Brown made four free throws. Banks scored again and Thomas made a field goal with 17 seconds left to cut the Rams halftime lead to 33-27.

A 5-0 run to start the second half put Cornell up 11 before Thomas scored three minutes into the period. Cornell extended the lead to 13 and Brown scored four straight points for the Scots. Another 3-pointer from the Rams gave the hosts a 52-38 lead with 10 minutes to play. Maring and Thomas followed with two free throws each but the Scots couldn't stop the Rams from scoring as they built a 17-point lead. Thomas hit two straight 3-pointers and after a Rams bucket, Taylor made two free throws.

Taylor made a 3-pointer with 6:34 to play as the Scots finally pulled the deficit back to single digits. Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) added two free throws for an 8-0 run and the Rams led 61-56. Brown kept the run going with a 3-pointer with 4:40 left as the Rams scoring drought extended for four minutes. Thomas tied the game on the next possession and the Rams made a free throw for their first point in five minutes.

Taylor's 3-pointer gave the Scots a 64-62 lead, their first since it was 14-13. Taylor scored again for a 66-62 lead before the Rams converted a 3-point play. Both teams missed shots and Thomas made two free throws with 55 seconds left for a 68-65 Monmouth lead. The Rams also made two free throws but Brown put the Scots up 70-67 with a layup with 12 seconds left. The hosts called timeout and missed a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Scots escaped with a win.

Thomas led the Scots with 23 points while Brown had 18 and Taylor added 16. Brown led the Scots with 14 rebounds, his second-highest tally of the season. Taylor had four assists while Huber had two steals.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Brown has scored in double digits in every game he has played this season ... He has five double-doubles on the season including four in the last five games ... Thomas has scored at least 11 points in seven straight games ... He has three games with at least 20 points scored ... Taylor picked up his 127th career steal, tying Lamar Rudd for third on the Monmouth career list ... Taylor also tied Steve Glasgow for eighth on the career 3-pointers made list with 138 ... Taylor made a season-best four on the night ... Monmouth started 3-of-6 from 3-point range but missed their next 11 3-point attempts until Thomas connected with 9:15 to play ... The Scots finished the game by making 4-of-5 and went 8-of-22 overall ... Monmouth was 22-of-28 at the free throw line ... The Scots were +5 on the glass ... Monmouth hadn't won in Mount Vernon since Feb. 17, 2018 with six straight losses ... The Scots lead the all-time series 83-78 ... Cornell has won 11 of the last 13 meetings ... Coach Skrivseth is 8-19 against the Rams, 3-12 away from home ... The teams will play again at Glennie Gym on Feb. 18 ... The Scots host Ripon on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

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MC_CC_MBB_10326.PDF

box score

Monmouth College

Scots Rally from 17 Down to Stun Cornell on Saturday

Media Attachments

Monmouth College

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