Will Carius scored the first and last points for Monmouth in a thrilling 68-67 win at Glennie Gym in the Scots' home opening win over MacMurray.
 
Monmouth took a quick 6-0 lead on a pair of Carius free throws followed by a Carius steal and breakaway dunk and finally a Jay Richardson layup. The Highlanders stormed back with a 12-0 run to lead 12-6 at the 15:45 mark of the first half. MacMurray then eased to a 29-19 halftime lead and grew the margin to 17 at 49-32 with 9:41 left in the game.  A pair of D.J. Swift free throws then ignited the Scots' comeback. Jumpers by Devin Yocum and Brandon Wheeler trimmed the margin to 51-38 before Swift canned three free throws and Yocum's old-fashioned three-point play made it a single-digit deficit at 51-44 with 7:43 to play.
 
The Scots continued to chip away, tying the game at 61-all with 2:57 left on another Yocum layup. The Highlanders countered with a layup, a 3-pointer and a free throw to push ahead 67-63 with 49 seconds left. After a Monmouth timeout, Carius hit a bucket in the lane and a MacMurray turnover gave the Scots the ball with 13 seconds left and trailing 67-65. A Highlander foul followed on a Carius layup with four seconds left, sending him to the line with the game knotted at 67-67. The post sank the free throw for his 26^th point of the night to give Monmouth a 68-67 lead. The Scots held on for the win when MacMurray's desperation three at the buzzer missed its mark.
 
Carius finished with his second double-double in as many games, pulling 12 rebounds to go with his 26 points. D.J. Swift added a dozen points and Yocum chipped in 11 after coming off the bench.
 
Monmouth hosts UW-Whitewater – ranked 24^th in the D3hoops.com poll – Tuesday in a 7:30 p.m. matchup.