MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - Men's basketball teams from Grinnell College and Cornell College have battled to some thrilling finishes on the latter's court in recent years, and Wednesday night's contest was more of the same. 
 
Grinnell, which had won the last two meetings at Mount Vernon by a combined four points, led at halftime Wednesday before the Rams rallied for a 114-111 Midwest Conference victory. 
 
Vinny Curta '19 led the Pioneers with 44 points, hitting 16-of-32 shots. Hannes Kogelnik '21 added 23 points and Sean Cullinane '18 poured in 11. Curta also had six assists and two steals.  
 
Others with two steals were Nathan Balcom '18, Cullinane and Jacob Ekstrand '18. Ekstrand also led Grinnell with five rebounds. 
 
After falling behind by seven points early, the Pioneers raced back with a 16-2 run. Curta had eight points during the spurt, including a trey, while Cullinane and Gus King '18 each had 3-pointers and Tyler Grumhaus '21 a pair of free throws as Grinnell took a 22-15 lead. 
 
Grinnell went up by 13 points twice shortly after that, the last time at 35-22 on Curta's jumper. However, the hosts came back to make it a 61-56 game by halftime. 
 
Cornell kept charging and led most of the second half, but the Pioneers continued to retaliate. Trailing by two points with 2:18 left, Curta hit two free throws, Ekstrand had a steal and Curta a layup to put Grinnell up 108-106 with 1:47 left. 
 
Cornell tied the game with 1:30 left and took the lead for good with two free throws at the 1:09 mark. 
 
After a dunk put the Rams up by four, Ekstrand drained a 3-pointer to make it 112-111 with :47 left. 
 
However, Cornell iced the win with a layup with :27 remaining and Grinnell missed two shots down the stretch.  
 
Grinnell is now 6-2 overall and 1-2 in the league, while the Rams moved to 4-2 in all games and 1-1 in the MWC. 
 
The Pioneers entertain Lawrence University at 1 p.m. Saturday in Darby Gymnasium.