By: Jakob Schmitt
The Western Illinois Men’s Basketball team kicked off their season with an exhibition game against Monmouth College on Tuesday, November 1. The Fighting Leathernecks started the first half really strong, jumping out to a 46-24 lead over The Scots at the break. Trenton Massner picked up right where he left off from a year ago, dropping 15 points in the first half and helped the Leathernecks to a successful start. Monmouth struggled early and really lost control of the Leathernecks within the first 11 mins of the game. In the second half, The Leathernecks would continue to dominate. Western outscored Monmouth 43-37 in the second half and were able to cruise to an easy 89- 61 victory. The defense had heavy control over the Scots, forcing 21 Monmouth turnovers resulting in 28 points on the other end for Western. Trenton Massner was all in for Western Illinois, nearly recording a double-double with 8 assists, to go along with his 25 points. Two other players for the Leathernecks had scored double-digits helping lead the team to victory. Alec Rosner and Vuk Stevanic scored a combined 25 points. Western Illinois will begin its regular season schedule tonight against in-state rival, Illinois State, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. in Normal.
