Box Score MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The Grinnell College men's basketball team may have been short-handed in its game at Cornell College Wednesday, but the Pioneers were not about to be turned away.

With several players not making the trip due to the flu, and Jack Taylor '15 exiting the contest early due to injury, the Pioneers overcame a 21-point deficit to win 119-117 in a Midwest Conference contest.

The contest will be shown on Mediacom at 10 p.m. Thursday.

Luke Yeager '15 was steady the whole contest, and fittingly hit the game-winning layup with just a second to go as Grinnell improved to 6-2 in the MWC and 9-3 in all games.

Griffin Lentsch '13 led Grinnell with a game-high 48 points, hitting eight 3-pointers in the process. Yeager tallied 35 with the aid of 15-of-27 shooting from the field, Taylor put in 11 and Joe Rogers '13 and Dominique Bellamy '13 had 10 each.

Yeager also dished out six assists, Jack Adams '13 blocked four shots and Bellamy tallied six steals.

Joey Guth had 29 points for the Rams, who fell to 4-4 in the league and 5-8 in all games.

Cornell was up by as many as 21 points in the first half before settling for a 69-57 lead at intermission. Grinnell gradually made up the margin in the second half, turning a four-point gap into a lead as Lentsch hit a pair of free throws and Yeager drained a 3-pointer to put the visitors ahead 95-94 with 8:04 remaining.

The hosts rebounded to go up by six, but again Grinnell charged back. They forced a few ties, including at 115-all with :57 remaining on a layup by Yeager. Lentsch hit a pair of free throws at the :15 mark to put the Pioneers ahead by two, but Cornell answered with two charity shots at the :06 mark to tie things up.

On the ensuing possession, Yeager took a pass and sliced through the defense down the middle of the lane for a layup in the final second to secure the victory.

Grinnell returns to Darby Gymnasium Saturday for a MWC contest against Lawrence University. Game time is 3 p.m.