GREEN BAY, Wis. – Despite struggles in the shooting department Friday night, the Grinnell College men's basketball team hung tight with the nation's 12th-ranked team for a good portion of the contest.
But St. Norbert used an 18-0 run in the second half, pulling away from a 10-point lead for a 100-73 win in Midwest Conference play. Grinnell is now 4-2 in the MWC and 7-4 overall, while the Green Knights improved to 6-0 in the league and 9-2 in all games.
Grinnell forced 29 turnovers against a team ranked sixth nationally in that category by averaging under 10 a game.
Grinnell had difficulties scoring, though, as the Pioneers had season-lows in points, field goal percentage (31.0) and 3-point percentage (20.4).
Vinny Curta '19 led Grinnell with 20 points, while
Nick Curta '17 had 13 and
Julian Marx '17 eight.
Nick Curta also had a career-high three steals and pulled down four rebounds.
Ikaika Phillip '18 also had four rebounds,
Vinny Curta dished out three assists and
Sean Cullinane '18 and
Griffin Boehm '19 tallied two steals apiece.
The game was tight early as Grinnell turned an eight-point gap into a 14-10 game when
Vinny Curta hit consecutive baskets.
It was still a seven-point margin when
Ky-Sean Johnson '19 scored to bring Grinnell within 22-15 at the 11:34 mark, but the Green Knights followed with a 12-point run and were up 53-37 at intermission.
Grinnell still trailed by 16 early in the second half before making things interesting, as
Reggie Bynum '19 drained a 3-pointer. After a basket by the Green Knights,
Nick Curta followed with a layup and 3-pointer to reduce St. Norbert's lead to 65-55 and force a timeout by the hosts with 14:46 left.
After the break, the Green Knights made a 3-pointer and jumper and
Vinny Curta scored to make it 70-57 with 12:47 left.
However, St. Norbert then tallied 18 unanswered points to make it 88-57. The Pioneers went scoreless for 5-1/2 minutes during the spurt as St. Norbert pulled away for the win.
Next Up: The Pioneers are at Lake Forest College next Friday. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.
