GRINNELL, Iowa – The contest had shades of Jan. 22, 2011.
On that day, the Grinnell College men's basketball team rallied from a 25-point halftime deficit to beat Lawrence University.
Saturday in Darby Gymnasium, the Pioneers roared back from 20 points down in the second half to topple Lake Forest College 117-112.
The win kept Grinnell perfect in the Midwest Conference at 2-0 while moving to 5-2 overall. Both are the best starts for the team since the 2013-14 season.
Vinny Curta '19 had 30 points for Grinnell,
Julian Marx '17 had 25 points with the aid of 10-of-15 shooting from the field and
Ky-Sean Johnson '19 scored 20.
Curta and
Mike Porter '17 each had three assists,
Nick Curta '17 grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots and
Nathan Balcom '18 grabbed three steals.
With the loss, Lake Forest fell to 1-2 in the league and 1-5 overall.
The first half was all Lake Forest, as the visitors went up by as many as 22 points before settling for a 70-53 halftime lead.
Lake Forest went ahead 76-56 before the Pioneers gradually began chipping away.
A pair of key runs sparked the rally. The first was a 12-2 spurt where Marx, Balcom and Johnson all had 3-pointers and
Vinny Curta a basket and free throw to make an 87-74 lead dwindle to 89-86.
The second run was an 11-0 push that made an 11-point Lake Forest lead a 104-all tie.
Sean Cullinane '18 had a 3-pointer and two free throws during that time,
Jacob Ekstrand '18 and Johnson added baskets and
Ikaika Phillip '18 a pair of free throws.
Grinnell later took the lead for good on
Vinny Curta's basket with 3:38 to go to make it a 108-106 edge.
Three times Lake Forest came within one, but Grinnell responded. The final time was when it was 113-112 with 33 seconds left.
Vinny Curta was fouled and drained both free throws to make it 115-112 with 25 seconds left.
Lake Forest then missed a 3-pointer and Grinnell rebounded before Johnson was fouled. He sealed the win with 6 ticks left on the clock by making both free throws.
Grinnell entertains Cornell College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
