Monmouth made just enough of their frees throws in the final minute to hold off Grinnell for a 94-90 win Saturday in Glennie Gym, keeping the Scots in third place in the Midwest Conference and pushing the Pioneers to fifth.
 
Trailing 88-76 with 1:49 left, the Pioneers turned in a bucket-and-one from Aiden Gilbert and followed with a Hannes Kogelnik 3-pointer to make it a two possession game. Justin Batterton pushed Monmouth's lead to 89-82 with a free throw before the Pioneers cut the margin to four at 89-95 with a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left. The Scots then held off the late charge with a 5-for-6 effort from the free throw line.
 
The Scots, who led 38-35 at the half, saw that margin climb to as many as 12 in the second half despite the Pioneers pumping in 26 points off Monmouth turnovers. Monmouth shot 33-of-49 from the floor, taking just seven 3-pointers in the game.
 
Batterton posted a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds, a month to the day after his last, also against the Pioneers. Dee Hyler added 22 points, D.J. Swift 14, Trevor Davis 13 and Jonathan Oradiegwu 12.
 
Monmouth travels to Knox Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. contest before hosting Ripon next Saturday.