MONMOUTH, Ill. – After falling behind by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Grinnell College men's basketball team fought back before falling 99-91 at Monmouth College Wednesday night.
Vinny Curta '19 led Grinnell with 29 points, while
Julian Marx '17 had 21,
Ky-Sean Johnson '19 scored 12 and
Mike Porter '17 put in nine.
Griffin Boehm '19 led the team in rebounds with six and Curta and
Sean Cullinane '18 tied career-highs with five and three steals, respectively. Marx and Curta had two assists each.
Grinnell trailed the entire first half and was down 50-39 at its conclusion.
The Pioneers still trailed by seven with just under 13 minutes left in the game when they went on a 10-4 run to come within a point. Johnson had a 3-pointer during the spurt, Curta made two free throws and basket and Marx had a 3-pointer to make it a 65-64 game with 11:14 left.
Grinnell, 5-4 in the Midwest Conference and 8-6 overall, stayed close and made it a one-point game again at the 3:54 mark when
Jacob Ekstrand's '18 3-pointer made it 87-86.
But the hosts followed with six consecutive points and hung on from there for the win.
The Pioneers will attempt to avenge an earlier loss to Ripon College when the Red Hawks visit Darby Gymnasium Saturday. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.
