Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
GRINNELL, Iowa – The two best men’s basketball teams in the Midwest Conference all season will have a long-anticipated rubber match as Grinnell College and Monmouth College advanced to Saturday’s 3:00 p.m. MWC Tournament final inside Darby Gymnasium.
The host and top seeded Grinnell Pioneers won their 11th consecutive game, defeating fourth seeded Illinois College 94-73 in the first semifinal. Second seeded Monmouth took down third seeded Lake Forest College, 93-84, in the nightcap.
In semifinal one, Grinnell and IC went back-and-forth during a frenetic first half that featured seven ties and nine lead changes. The hosts led 50-43 at the break, shooting over 51% from the floor, though the Blueboys scored six of the final eight points in the half.
In the second half, Grinnell pulled away in outscoring IC 44-30. The Pioneers forced the Blueboys to shoot 1-of-11 from three and 8-of-30 from the field, leading by as many as 26 with five minutes remaining in the game.
Gabe Garcia led all scorers with 23 points for Grinnell, while Kai Te Huki (16), Sean Murphy (15) and Tyler Copes (11) also scored in double figures. Illinois College was led by DeShawn Nolan and Seth Doss, who each scored 21 points.
Illinois College concludes its season with a record of 12-14 (9-7 MWC).
In a high-scoring first half of semifinal two, Monmouth led 51-39 after 20 minutes. The Fighting Scots shot 60% from the floor, made six three-pointers and held the Foresters to 3-of-11 success from deep.
Monmouth went cold from deep in the second half – failing to connect on a three-pointer – but Lake Forest was never able to close the gap to less than seven. The lead grew to as much as 16 in the second stanza and the Fighting Scots held on late to avenge their 2025 MWC Men’s Basketball Tournament loss to Lake Forest.
Zay Brown had a monster game for Monmouth, scoring a game-high 35 points. Three other Fighting Scots were in double figures: Kyle Taylor (17 points), Max Maring (12 points) and Cameron Thomas (10 points). Cristian Rodriguez led Lake Forest with 27 points, while Alex Forowycz (15 points), Marko Visnjevac (15 points) and Luke Arington (14 points) contributed double-digit totals for the Foresters as well.
Lake Forest wraps up its campaign with a 16-10 overall record (11-5 MWC).
Grinnell is looking for back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history, while Monmouth is a win away from its first NCAA Tournament since 2018. The home team won each meeting between the schools this season: the Fighting Scots took the first matchup 94-82 on January 13, while Grinnell got its revenge on February 4 (100-85).