Westminster Men's Basketball Drops to Monmouth

Westminster Men's Basketball Drops to Monmouth

MONMOUTH, Ill. - Westminster men's basketball dropped a 78-66 decision Sunday against Monmouth.

The Blue Jays fall to 2-2 with the loss. 

"We had a rough day today," said Westminster Head Coach Matt Mitchell. "We played well offensively, shot the ball well, and had few turnovers, but we could not match their physicality on the glass."

Westminster stuggled offensively in the first half, scoring just 29 points, including eight from Tanner Cochran

After seven lead changes in the opening four minutes of the game, Monmouth eventually pulled ahead by as many as 13 in the first half. Four points from Kobe Wands in the closing seconds of the half made the score 40-29 going into the locker rooms for halftime. 

Stu Hollandsworth sparked Westminster's offense in the second half, scoring 12 of his 19 points in the second 20 minutes of the game. Monmouth opened the half on a 16-2 run to go up by 25, but the Blue Jays continued to chip away. 

Collin Caywood went on an 11-0 run by himself, hitting three straight three-pointers, to cut the lead back to 13 with just over three minutes remaining in the game, but it wasn't enough to steal a win from Monmouth. 

Hollandsworth led all scorers with 19 points while Caywood added 11. 

Westminster returns home and opens St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday in the Historic Gym against Webster. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.