In Monmouth College’s Glennie Gymnasium, it was once said about about a Fighting Scots scorer that “he has moves that would work in the NBA, but he couldn’t guard this building.”

That description doesn’t fit the Scots’ Kenny Spranger, a scorer with great moves who can get after it on defense, too. The athletic 6-foot-4 forward had three games to remember during Monmouth’s 3-0 home-stand last week, lifting the Scots into playing contention in the Midwest Conference and winning the league’s Player of the Week honor.

Spranger made 12-of-14 shots from the field and led Monmouth with 28 points in a 131-124 win over Grinnell Tuesday. Offensive stats tend to be a little inflated against the high-octane Pioneers, but Spranger showed his scoring was no fluke over the weekend, striking for 19 points and 14 rebounds in a 66-56 win over Lawrence on Friday and netting 26 points to go with 10 rebounds as Monmouth edged Beloit 78-74 on Saturday.

In the latter two games, Spranger was huge down the stretch. He scored seven straight points to break a 51-51 tie against Lawrence, and with Monmouth leading just 68-66 against Beloit, he sandwiched two assists for lay-ups around a steal and lay-up of his own to put the Scots ahead 74-67.

“Spranger down the stretch really made the difference,” said Lawrence coach John Tharp. “He’s a good player. He does it in the post. It’s interesting. He does it a step off the block. He’ll take it, and he’s very good at foot-jabbing and getting to the rim.”

Another opposing coach who came away impressed - but not surprised - was Beloit’s Cecil Youngblood. Spranger hails from Moline, Ill., and Youngblood used to coach at Augustana College in nearby Rock Island.

“I’ve known Kenny since he was in sixth grade, and he’s a tough player,” said Youngblood, who saw Spranger register 18 points and eight rebounds by halftime of Saturday’s game. “And that’s the thing about it - he’s tough. He’s as tough as he is talented. When he wants to step it up, he’s a tough match-up.”

Spranger’s averages for the week were 24.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.7 assists. He also shot 70.4 percent (31-of-44) from the floor. If Grinnell’s “aberration” statistics are thrown out of the mix, Spranger would be ranked fourth in the league in scoring (17.2) and ninth in assists (3.4). Even with Grinnell in the mix, he’s second in the league in rebounding (8.6) and first in steals (3.2).

It’s his rebounding and steal numbers that suggest that he can, indeed, guard a building, as well as the players inside it. His 35 steals are just eight off the Monmouth single-season record, and he’s ranked in the top 15 in the nation in that category. He has more rebounds per game than any Fighting Scot since Derek Archer averaged 8.7 in 1996-97.

Monmouth’s Terry Glasgow is also appreciative of the talent and athleticism that Spranger brings to the game, but he’s not above putting Spranger next to him on the bench if he thinks his star needs some motivation.

“I wasn’t terribly excited about his defense against (Beloit’s Henry) Grant,” said Glasgow. “He sat for a pretty good segment of the second half. But I was pleased with Kenny’s offense in both games over the weekend. He’s an extremely capable offensive player.”

While Spranger was sitting, Glasgow got a great effort from a lineup that included starters Greg Kloepping and Rob Purlee and reserves Lorenzo Pugh, Nick Swing and Jason Murren. Swing, who finished with eight points, made two straight baskets and Kloepping drained four straight shots, including two treys, as Monmouth turned a 48-41 deficit into a 62-53 lead.

“We got some real good play off our bench,” said Glasgow. “I was surprised to see that group do well against Beloit, but Beloit was probably surprised even more. They had probably never heard of Nick Swing.”

Of the conference race, which currently shows Monmouth in fourth place at 3-2, Glasgow said, “We’d love to win two games (on our three-game road trip), but it’s going to be a tall order. Everybody can beat everybody. I’m still predicting a team is going to have to have 3-4 road wins to make the playoffs. Right now, we’re looking at it like we have 11 one-game schedules, and Illinois College is the team we’re concerned with.

“I don’t know,” said Glasgow, when asked how Monmouth, just 1-7 overall and 0-2 in league play at this time last week, was able to get things turned around so quickly. “If I did know, I would have started it a month ago. If there were any keys to this last week, it was that we had a lot of guys contribute.”

Especially Midwest Conference Player of the Week Kenny Spranger.

Men's Basketball