Scots Drop Season Opener to Millikin

By Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, ILL. The Monmouth College men's basketball team were held to their lowest scoring output in two seasons in a 71-55 home loss to Millikin on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (0-1) will play three road games before hosting Eureka on Nov. 22.

Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) got the Scots going with two free throws. The Scots never led again as Millikin scored the next nine points. Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) got his first bucket with 15:24 to go in the half but the visitors answered with a bucket. Brown hit a 3-pointer but another scoring drought put Millikin on top 21-7. Brown scored again in the paint and Cam Thomas made two free throws with 7:06 to play in the half. Brown threw down a dunk to cut the Millikin lead to 10 and Thomas hit a 3-pointer. Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) scored off a turnover and Jason Huber (Carpentersville, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left in the half as the Big Blue led 31-21.

Thomas started the second half with a layup off a turnover but Millikin scored the next five points. Brown scored again off a fast break and then hit a jumper. Taylor made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to six and Maring followed with a 3-pointer to force a Millikin timeout. Millikin went back up by seven and Brown converted a 3-play point play. Thomas hit a 3-pointer and then converted a dunk to cut the lead to 42-41. Millikin responded with a 6-0 run and an extended 9-1 run to lead 51-42. Brown scored five straight and Maring added two free throws but Millikin responded for a 65-55 lead with 2:43 to go. The Scots didn't score again as Millikin hit six free throws for the 71-55 win.

Brown led the Scots with 22 points and eight rebounds. Thomas had 12 points while Maring added 11. Brown and Taylor both had two assists and Thomas had three steals. Maring had Monmouth's only block.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots went 33 games scoring at least 56 points dating back to Jan. 20, 2024 when they had just 49 at Lawrence ... The last time the Scots scored under 55 at home was Jan. 10, 2024 with 52 against Cornell ... Monmouth had zero bench points ... The Scots shot 31.7% from the field, the lowest last season was 39% in a win over Blackburn ... Taylor moved past Juan Mitchell to move into ninth on the career 3-pointers made list with 122 ... Brown scored in double figures 23 times last season and has a streak of 12 straight games in double figures ... He's scored at least 20 points in four straight games and 12 times overall ... Transfers Conor Watson (Macomb, Illinois) and Jase Whiteman (Andalusia, Illinois) made their Monmouth debuts ... The Scots play at Eureka on Tuesday and at Rockford next Saturday ... The next home game is Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. against Eureka.