Thomas Scores Career-High 37 but Scots Fall at Grinnell

MWC Win Streaks End with 100-85 Loss

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (02/05/2026) — The Monmouth College men's basketball team saw their win streaks come to an end with a 100-85 loss at Grinnell on Wednesday. The Fighting Scots (16-5, 11-1) and Pioneers split the season series and are now tied for first place with four games remaining.

Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) tied the game at two and Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas) scored the next four points. With the game tied, Thomas made two free throws and Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) hit a jumper. Turner Plumer (Canton, Illinois) made it 12-6 with a bucket and free throws from Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) put the Scots up 14-7. Thomas and Brown hit jumpers to maintain a 7-point lead before Grinnell went on an 11-3 run. Brown put the Scots back on top 23-22 with 8:30 to play in the half. The Pioneers controlled the game for the rest of the half, finishing on a 28-14 run for a 50-37 lead at the break.

Down by 18 early in the second half. Thomas hit a pair of 3-pointers as he scored 10 of Monmouth's first 12 points after the break. Buckets by Brown and Plumer pulled the Scots within eight and Thomas scored five more points. Returning from injury to play for the first time since mid December, Julian Samuels (Annawan, Illinois) hit his second 3-pointer of the game for a 69-63 Grinnell lead. The Pioneers hit two straight 3-pointers before Thomas answered and Brown dunked.

Grinnell led 79-70 before hitting three straight shots for a 16-point lead. Thomas hit another 3-pointer but four straight free throws gave the hosts a 97-80 lead. Jase Whiteman (Andalusia, Illinois) and Ryken Howard (Rock Falls, Illinois) hit buckets late but the Pioneers had the 100-85 win.

Thomas made six 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 37 points while Brown scored 15 points. Brown led the way with eight rebounds while Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) added seven. Taylor and Brown both had five assists and Huber had a team-leading three steals.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots had won 21 straight regular season MWC games dating back to last January and eight straight games in 2026 ... Brown has scored in double digits in every game he has played this season and in 31 straight games dating back to last season ... The 31-game streak ties the school record set by Jim Thornton ... Thomas has scored at least 10 points in 15 straight games and he has 19 double digit games this season ... He made six 3-pointers for the second straight road game ... His 37 points are a career high and the most by any Monmouth player since 2019 when Will Carius scored a school-record 62 against Grinnell and 38 against Illinois College ... Taylor played in his 98th career game, tied with Paul Engo and Will Jones for second most in Monmouth historyGrinnell grabbed 29 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded the Scots 56-41 ... The Pioneers scored 30 second-chance points and also scored 26 points off 23 Monmouth turnovers ... The 11-0 start in conference was the best since the 1989-90 team went undefeated as MWC Champions at 13-0 ... Monmouth won the home matchup on Jan. 13 by the score of 94-82 ... The Fighting Scots lead the all-time series 92-67 with a 10-5 mark in the last 15 ... The Scots are 15-14 against Grinnell under Coach Skrivseth ... Monmouth stays on the road to play at Ripon on Saturday with a 1 p.m. start.

Media Attachments

MC_GC_MBB_20426.PDF

box score

Monmouth College

Thomas Scores Career-High 37 but Scots Fall at Grinnell

MWC Win Streaks End with 100-85 Loss

Media Attachments

Monmouth College

Share this Story

Recent News