DE PERE, Wis. – Grinnell College's men's basketball team gave St. Norbert College all it could handle Saturday afternoon, but the Midwest Conference leading Green Knights came out with a 97-85 home victory.
 
The Pioneers' point total against a squad receiving votes for the NCAA Division III national rankings was 24 higher than the Green Knights' season defensive average. Additionally, Grinnell forced 26 turnovers which is 15 more than St. Norbert has averaged this season.
 
Grinnell was a solid 80 percent from the free throw line, but St. Norbert took advantage of a 36-20 edge in charity shots while shooting 86.1 percent itself.
 
The Pioneers are now 3-3 in the league and 8-4 overall, while St. Norbert remained perfect in the league at 6-0 while going to 11-2 in all games.
 
The nation's leading scorer, Vinny Curta '19, topped the Pioneers with 18 points while Sean Cullinane '18 scored 15 and Nathan Balcom '18 erupted for a season-high 14.
 
Curta also dished out eight assists, one shy of his season high, and came up with three steals. Andrew Redhead '18 grabbed three rebounds, one below his season best.
 
Ikaika Phillip '18, Gus King '18, Redhead, Balcom, Tyler Grumhaus '21 and Jacob Ekstrand '18 all had two steals as the Pioneers piled up 17 for the game.
 
After falling down by 10 in the first half, the Pioneers stormed back with an 11-0 run. Balcom, Ekstrand and Cullinane hit consecutive 3-pointers and Griffin Boehm '19 added two free throws to put the Pioneers ahead 29-28 with 3:07 left in the half.
 
However, St. Norbert rallied and led 35-34 at the break.
 
It was more back and forth in the second half. Grinnell fell behind by nine and later trailed by six before making things interesting with a 10-2 run. Curta had a layup and Balcom a traditional three-point play to bring the Pioneers within one.
 
After St. Norbert scored, Curta drained a trey and two free throws to put Grinnell up 75-73 with 6:35 left.
 
But the hosts answered with a six-point run to retake the lead. Grinnell pulled within three on Phillip's free throw, but St. Norbert answered with another six-point run to go up by nine. The Green Knights secured the victory from there.
 
Grinnell has a stretch of three home games in a row, starting with a test against Lake Forest College Friday night at Darby Gymnasium. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.