Shorthanded Scots Fall at Cornell on Tuesday, Rematch Set for Next Friday

Flynn scores 25 in regular-season finale

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/15/2023) — Apologies for the Wednesday morning send, MERIT was down Tuesday night after 10 pm. -

The Monmouth College men's basketball team played short-handed in the regular-season finale and lost 80-75 at Cornell on Tuesday. The Fighting Scots (14-11, 10-6) finished third in the Midwest Conference and will play Cornell again next Friday in the MWC Tournament semifinals at Illinois College.

The Scots played without usual starters David Williams (Loves Park, Illinois) and Kendall Brasfield (Chicago, Illinois) in addition to sixth-man Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois). Ganon Greenman (Alpha, Illinois) and Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) made their first starts of the season in place of Williams and Brasfield.

Cornell jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) made a pair of free throws. Flynn, Jordan Metcalf (Aledo, Illinois) and Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois) scored baskets but Cornell pushed the lead to 10 points at 18-8. The lead peaked at 13 twice in the first half before Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) hit a pair of 3-pointers. Flynn scored Monmouth's final eight points of the half with a pair of 3-pointers to cut Cornell's lead to 35-33 at the break.

The Rams scored the first seven points of the second half before Yuvraj Sidhu (Coppell, Texas) scored in the paint. Cornell pushed the lead back to 13 and eventually went up by 15 with 11:16 to play. Monmouth went on a run to cut the lead to nine on a pair of Metcalf free throws. Metcalf, Sidhu and Taylor all scored in a 6-0 run to make it 66-62 with 5:42 left. Cornell went back up by 11 and Flynn hit a pair of 3-pointers. Taylor cut the lead to 78-75 with 35 seconds left and the Rams missed a free throw. Monmouth couldn't get any closer and after a blocked shot, Cornell made two free throws for the final points of the game.

Flynn led the way with 25 points as he made 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Taylor had 16 points and Metcalf had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double. Sidhu scored a career-high 10 points and Taylor led the Scots with five assists.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Flynn has topped 20 points in four of the last seven games. He is 10-for-21 from 3-point range in the last three games and has made at least two 3-pointers in five of the last seven games. Metcalf has all 10 of Monmouth's double-doubles on the season including four in the last seven games. Cornell has won the last seven games in the series, including a 50-47 win at Monmouth last month. Monmouth will play in their fourth Midwest Conference Tournament under Coach Skrivseth. The Scots (10-6) have a bye this weekend while Cornell (11-4) will play at Beloit. The Scots and Rams will play the first semifinal next Friday, Feb. 24. The game starts at 5 p.m. with top-seeded Illinois College hosting the tournament and playing No. 4 seed Ripon in the second semifinal.