The Monmouth College men's basketball team needed overtime to extend their win streak to 10 games as they beat the Grinnell Pioneers 100-07 on Saturday in the regular-season finale. The Fighting Scots (20-5, 14-2) tied the school record for wins in a season as they became the fourth team to ever win 20 games in a single campaign.
Senior Jay Brown (Lansing, Illinois) scored Monmouth's first basket to tie the game. Brennen McNally (Paw Paw, Illinois) and Ganon Greeenman (Alpha, Illinois) scored as the teams traded baskets. After the seniors subbed out, Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) scored on a layup and Declan Flynn (Monmouth, Illinois) put the Scots on top 10-8. Zay Brown scored again before the Pioneers took a 14-12 lead. Cam Thomas (Arlington, Texas) converted a 4-point play to put the Scots back on top. Grinnell hit consecutive 3-pointers on either side of a Flynn layup and Thomas tied the game at 20 with two free throws.
Grinnell led 27-22 when Max Maring (Port Byron, Illinois) scored at the rim. Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) hit a 3-pointer but the Pioneers went back up by five. Maring made a free throw and McNally drilled a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound. McNally added two free throws for the lead and Taylor made it 35-32 with a layup. Taylor hit a long 3-pointer and Greenman's layup gave the Scots a 40-33 lead. McNally scored and threw an alley-oop to Zay Brown for a 9-point lead. Grinnell posted a 3-point play before Zay Brown made two free throws for a 46-38 halftime lead.
Taylor scored the first points of the second half for a 48-38 lead before Grinnell converted a 4-point play. Grinnell hit another 3-pointer as Thomas and Flynn converted layups. The Pioneers scored six straight to lead 56-54 before Thomas scored again. Down 5, Maring converted a 3-point play and Zay Brown tied the game with a putback. Greenman scored to tie the game at 63 but the Pioneers went on a 7-2 run. McNally scored in the lane and added two free throws for a personal 4-0 run.
The Pioneers hit a 3-pointer and Zay Brown made a free throw with just over eight minutes to play. Flynn scored in the lane and a minute later, splashed a 3-pointer for a 77-76 lead. Zay Brown blocked a shot and Flynn hit another 3-pointer to force a Grinnell timeout. Brown scored again for an 82-78 lead before Grinnell scored at the rim. McNally hit a long jumper and Grinnell cut the lead to one as the clock went under two minutes. The Pioneers scored again to lead 85-84 before Jordan Hill (Chicago, Illinois) found Zay Brown for a layup. Brown was fouled on the shot and made the free throw for an 87-85 lead. Grinnell tied the game on a goaltending call with 51 seconds left. Neither team scored on their final possession of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
Thomas scored to start the extra period but the Pioneers answered. Thomas put Monmouth back on top with a free throw and Hill scored off a Taylor steal for a 92-89 lead. Grinnell tied the game and McNally scored in the lane for a 94-92 lead. Flynn scored on an in-bounds pass and Hill hit a jumper after Grinnell scored. The Pioneers scored, forced a turnover and made a free throw to cut the Monmouth lead to 98-97. After a flurry of Grinnell misses, Thomas got a rebounds, was fouled, and made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left. Grinnell airballed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the game.
Zay Brown and Flynn both scored 20 points while McNally added 17. Thomas scored 15 points and Taylor had 10. Brown led the Scots with 14 rebounds and tied his career-high with six assists while Taylor had three steals.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots also won 20 games 1988-89 (20-6), 1989-90 (20-3) and 2017-18 (20-8).. ... The 14-2 conference record is tied with the 1956-57 team for the best 16-game mark in school history ... The only season with more conference wins came in an 18-game season when the 2017-18 team went 15-3 as MWC Champions ... Brown has 22 double-digit scoring games, including 10 straight, which ranks tied for ninth on the Monmouth single-season list ... He has 10 games with at least 20 points and seven double-doubles ... He passed Roger Sander (1976-77, Bill Seiler (1985-86) and Bud McRoberts (1959-60) to move into 14th on the single-season scoring list with 450 points ... Brown moved past Mike Williams (1990-91) for 12th on the single-season rebounds list with 227He also moved into a tie for ninth with Jason Murren on the single-season blocks list with 33 ... Taylor has scored in double digits 13 times this season, Thomas 16 times, Flynn 13 times and McNally twice ... Taylor moved into seventh on the career steals list with 110 and is ted with Marlon Brown (1990-91) for fifth on the single-season list with 43 steals ... He also made two 3-pointers to enter the top 10 in career makes with 115 ... Flynn is the first player in school history to play in 99 games as he moved past Paul Engo and Will Jones The Scots last won 10 straight games in 1989-90 ... Monmouth leads the all-time series 91-66 ... The Scots are 14-13 against the Pioneers under coach Skrivseth ... The Scots won at Grinnell 102-99 on Jan. 22The Scots honored eight seniors pregame: Jay Brown, Flynn, Greenman, Hill, McNally, Junior Sylvestre (Fort Myers, Florida), Damarian Stark (Roscoe, Illinois) and student manager Carson Coleman (Washington, Illinois) ... The Midwest Conference Tournament will be at Glennie Gym February 28 and March 1 with the MWC Indoor Track and Field Championships also in the Huff Athletic Center those two days ... The Scots will face #4 seed Lake Forest in one semifinal while #2 Grinnell faces #3 Illinois College in the opener ... The only MWC Tournament meeting between the Scots and Foresters came in 2018 when Monmouth won a home semifinal 87-81.