Box Score GRINNELL, Iowa – Playing before a packed house in a key Midwest Conference game on Senior Day, it seemed only natural the Grinnell College men's basketball team would deliver a victory.

And that's exactly what the Pioneers did, knocking off St. Norbert College 104-99 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Darby Gymnasium to move into a first-place tie in the MWC. Grinnell is now 13-3 in the league and 16-4 in all games, while St. Norbert – the preseason league favorite – dipped to 13-3 in MWC play and 16-5 in all games.

The win also provided head coach David Arseneault, already the program's winningest coach, with his 299th career victory.

Grinnell led 51-45 at halftime before the Green Knights rallied to tie the contest at 84-all at the end of regulation. The Pioneers, who had struggled shooting during regulation, were lights-out during the extra period by hitting all three 3-point tries while going 4-of-4 overall from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.

Luke Yeager '15 had the hot hand for the Pioneers, finishing with a game-high 31 points on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc and a 7-of-8 performance from the free throw line. Griffin Lentsch '13 added 21 points, also hitting 7-of-8 free throws, and Patrick Maher '14 added 14.

Brian McManamy '13 led the team's rebounding attack with six, while Marques Valdez '13 had three steals and Maher and Dominique Bellamy '13 two apiece. Aaron Levin '14 added three assists.

Grinnell led the entire first half and a good part of the second before St. Norbert built a six-point lead with 5:54 to go. However, Lentsch drained a 3-pointer and Tague Zachary '15 made a free throw to bring the Pioneers within 73-71 with 4:52 left.

The Pioneers later rallied and went ahead on a trey by Lentsch, and from there it was back-and-forth. With Grinnell trailing by one, McManamy drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to put the hosts up 84-82. However, St. Norbert scored with :10 left to make it 84-all and force overtime.

Yeager opened the extra period with a 3-pointer and the Pioneers led the rest of the way. They made it a six-point game when McManamy made a free throw with :30 left, but a trey by the Green Knights cut that gap in half.

Maher sank a pair of free throws with :17 left to put Grinnell up by five, but again St. Norbert made a 3-pointer to make it a 100-98 game with :10 left.

Lentsch was fouled and connected on both charity shots to make it a four-point lead. Any hopes the Green Knights had after that were squelched when Bellamy stole the ensuing inbounds pass and delivered a dunk that sent the Pioneer fans into wild celebration.

St. Norbert did make one last free throw, but that was it as the Pioneers seniors celebrated their big day in style.

Grinnell plays its final regular-season home game Tuesday when Cornell College visits Darby Gymnasium. Game time is 7:30 p.m.