APPLETON, Wis. – Grinnell College's men's basketball team posted an impressive comeback to force overtime, but then lost to Lawrence University 106-99 in Midwest Conference action Saturday.
 
The Pioneers faced a daunting task in the late going of regulation, trailing 95-90 with 1:00 remaining. However, Vinny Curta '19 cut into that lead with a layup 9 seconds later.
 
Lawrence then got a free throw to go back up by four with :38 left, but Curta countered with a charity shot 3 seconds later.
 
He missed the second shot, but Griffin Boehm '19 grabbed the offensive board and tossed it out to Curta, who nailed a trey from the top of the key to tie things at 96-all with :32 left.
 
Both teams missed opportunities to win it after that, forcing overtime.
 
The hosts scored the first seven points of the extra period on their way to securing the win and improving to 7-5 in the league and 11-7 overall. Grinnell fell to 6-6 in the MWC and 11-7 in all games.
 
Poor shooting haunted the Pioneers in the game as they were just 20.4 percent from 3-point land, 35.7 percent from the field overall and 61.3 percent on free throws.
 
Curta led the Pioneers with 28 points, six rebounds and two steals. Hannes Kogelnik '21 added 19 points, Ky-Sean Johnson '19 scored 16 and Ikaika Phillip '18 poured in 10. Kogelnik was 5-of-9 from 3-point land.
 
Sean Cullinane '18 grabbed a career-high six rebounds and Jacob Ekstrand '18 added two steals.
 
Lawrence got out to an 11-point lead in the first half, but the Pioneers rallied and made it 44-38 by halftime.
 
After falling behind by nine in the second half, Grinnell got back in it with a 12-2 run. Curta had three baskets and Brad Geiman '21 and Kogelnik added 3-pointers to help push Grinnell ahead 83-82 with 5:37 left.
 
It was a tight battle the rest of regulation.
 
Grinnell plays at Monmouth College at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.