Fulton, Mo 12/19/2023- The Westminster College men's basketball team was back inside the Historic Gym as they hosted Monmouth College for the last game before the holiday break. It would be a neck-and-neck game until the Scots pulled away with seven minutes left in the game and would win with a final score of 81-73. Monmouth improves to 6-5 on the season and Westminster falls to 1-10.
The Blue Jays would come out hot. Freshman Aaron Poage would score the first five points of the game, hitting a jump shot and then knocked down a three after the Blue Jays got a stop on the defensive end to take an early 5-0 lead. Westminster would hold a small lead for much of the first half. The Scots would hit a three with 9:30 remaining in the half to tie the game 15-15. Monmouth would take a 28-24 lead with 5 minutes on the clock. The Blue Jays ended the half on a 4-0 run to tie the game 28-28 as they headed to the locker room for halftime.
The second half was much the same, with neither team giving an inch. The Scots would take the lead and the Blue Jays would come back to tie it. Westminster would get the lead and Monmouth would come back to tie it. This would continue until the 8:11 mark when Monmouth hit a three to take a 53-50 lead. They would hit another three on their next possession to make it 56-52. The Blue Jays would turnover the ball, which led to a layup for the Scots that put them up 58-52. A pair of free throws would put them up 60-53 and then they would hit a dagger three with 5:28 remaining to make it 63-53. The Blue Jays would continue to battle, but time was not on their side. The Scots would win the game 81-73.
There were eight ties and fourteen lead changes in the game. The game would be decided at the free throw line, with Monmouth going 18-26 and Westminster going 6-19. The Blue Jays would out-shoot the Scots going 30-74 from the field and 6-19 from behind the three-point line. The Scots went 27-69 from the field and 9-26 from three-point land. Westminster won the rebound battle 47-45.
The Blue Jays will be off for the holidays and are back in action on January 3rd when they host Fontbonne University to kick off the conference schedule. That game will tip-off at 7:30 from the Historic Gym.
