Box Score APPLETON, Wis. – The Grinnell College men's basketball team has pulled out many nail-biters in recent weeks, but the magic didn't continue Saturday as the Pioneers fell 114-106 in an overtime thriller at Lawrence University.

The setback, which put Grinnell at 14-4 in the Midwest Conference and 17-5 overall, prevented the Pioneers from clinching a share of the regular-season league title and hosting rights for the MWC Tournament. Lawrence improved to 11-7 in the league and 13-10 in all games.

Grinnell will be the second seed in next weekend's four-team MWC Tournament at De Pere, Wis., and play third-seeded Carroll University at 5 p.m. Friday. Host St. Norbert College is the top seed and will meet fourth-seeded Ripon College at 7 p.m.

Grinnell's Griffin Lentsch '13 led all scorers with 27 points while also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Lentsch was 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

Patrick Maher '14 had a big game with 25 points, hitting 4-of-7 shots from 3-point land, while Luke Yeager '15 had 19 points and six assists. Marques Valdez '13 was credited with four steals.

The Pioneers trailed by eight in the first half before going on a 20-6 run to take a 47-41 cushion. Lentsch had nine points during the spurt, including a 3-pointer, while Dylan Bartuch '15 drained a 3-pointer and Aaron Levin '14, Jack Adams '13 and Maher all had two points. Cody Olson '14 and Garrett Nitz '13 contributed one each.

Grinnell went up by as many as 14 when free throws by Lentsch made it 59-45. However the hosts rallied to make it a 59-50 game at halftime.

In the second half, the Vikings continued to chip away and took the lead, going up by eight with 5:10 left. But Grinnell got right back in it, as Maher and Adams made layups and Maher drained a trey to make it a one-point Lawrence lead.

The teams went back and forth after that, with Lawrence taking a three-point lead in the waning seconds. However, Jesse Ney '13 responded for Grinnell by hitting a trey with :07 left to make it 95-all and forcing overtime.

Lawrence scored the first six points of the extra period before Joe Rogers '13 sank a free throw to bring the Pioneers within five. But that's as close as the hosts would let the Pioneers get as they went on to win by eight.