RIPON, Wis. – Grinnell College's basketball team led midway through the second half, but a strong charge by Ripon College gave the hosts a 113-105 victory Saturday afternoon.
 
Grinnell got 28 points from Vinny Curta '19, who now has 1,412 for his career to move into a 14th-place tie on the Pioneers' all-time chart. Curta also dished out a season-best nine assists.
 
Zack Stice '21 added a career-high 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point land, and Hannes Kogelnik '21 scored 12.
 
Jacob Ekstrand '18 had six rebounds and two steals. Also coming up with two steals were Ky-Sean Johnson '19 and Kogelnik.
 
Defensively, the Pioneers limited Ripon to 26.7 percent shooting from the 3-point line (4-of-15), a season-low for a Grinnell opponent.
 
Grinnell is now 5-5 in the Midwest Conference and 10-6 overall, while Ripon moved to 7-3 in the league and 10-5 in all games.
 
Grinnell trailed by as many as 10 in the first half, but rallied with a 3-pointer and free throw by Curta in the last minute to come within 54-49 at intermission.
 
Still down by five in the second half, the Pioneers erupted with a nine-point run. Ikaika Phillip '18 began things with a pair of free throws, Nathan Balcom '18 drilled a jumper, Johnson had a trey and Ekstrand two free throws to push Grinnell ahead 81-77 with 8:41 left.
 
However, the Red Hawks countered with a 13-1 run to go ahead by eight and held on from there for the win.
 
The Pioneers return to the home court Wednesday when Cornell College visits. Game time at Darby Gymnasium is 6 p.m.