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Tyler Copes
Julia Marlin
85
Monmouth (IL) MC 16-5,11-1 Midwest Conference
100
Winner Grinnell GC 16-3,11-1 Midwest Conference
Monmouth (IL) MC
16-5,11-1 Midwest Conference
85
Final
100
Grinnell GC
16-3,11-1 Midwest Conference
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Monmouth (IL) MC 37 48 85
Grinnell GC 50 50 100

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Ted Schultz

Grinnell surges into tie for MWC lead with convincing win over Monmouth

GRINNELL, Iowa - And just like that, the Midwest Conference men's basketball title race has a new look.

Grinnell College achieved that before a loud and enthusiastic crowd Wednesday at Darby Gymnasium, with a 100-85 victory over Monmouth College, which entered the game unbeaten in league play.

Now both Grinnell and Monmouth own 11-1 marks in MWC action. Grinnell, which this week began receiving votes for the D3hoops.com national rankings, improved to 16-3 overall. Both the league and overall starts are best for the program since the 2011-12 campaign.

The Pioneers have won 14 of their last 15 games, with the only loss in that span coming at Monmouth on Jan. 13. Grinnell's last defeat before that was on Nov. 19 of 2025. Grinnell also halted Monmouth's eight-game winning streak with the victory.

Grinnell got off to a slow start, with Monmouth grabbing an 18-11 lead right off the bat. But then the Pioneers got into the swing of things, starting with Sean Murphy's '26 3-pointer at the 10:54 mark. 

Monmouth, 16-5 overall, later led 21-16 before Grinnell answered with a 15-2 run to take a 31-23 lead. Aidan Wiley '29 began the surge with a layup and Kai Te Huki '27 followed suit to bring Grinnell within a point. Nick Courtney '26 followed with a dunk to put Grinnell ahead, but Monmouth answered with a basket to retake command.

Gabe Garcia '27 and Nick Lundy '27 followed with layups, Lundy and Zach Rosen '26 sank free throws and Wiley drained a trey to make it 31-23 with 6:55 remaining in the half. 

Grinnell kept things up from there, leading 50-37 at halftime and scoring five in a row to start the second half on a jumper by Courtney and 3-pointer by Tanner Deal '27.

Monmouth did make things interesting, though, closing the gap to six points when Grinnell silenced the rally as Deal and Murphy connected on consecutive treys to put the Pioneers ahead 75-63 with 10:41 left.

Grinnell held off the Fighting Scots the rest of the way to secure the victory. 

Garcia had another big offensive game for Grinnell with 18 points, while Rosen also hit double digits with 11. Tyler Copes '29 hauled in 10 boards and blocked four shots. Rosen nearly had a double-double, as he added nine rebounds. Kingzten Bristol '29 contributed seven rebounds.

Rosen led the team in assists with six and had two steals, the same steals total as Courtney and Garcia.

The Pioneers have nearly a week off before hosting Illinois College next Tuesday. Action at Darby begins at 5:30 p.m.


 
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