PELLA, Iowa – In a contest that saw an NCAA Division III record and an individual reach a milestone, the Grinnell College men's basketball team made a furious rally in the second half only to fall short in a 105-96 setback at Central College Tuesday night.
 
The Pioneers, 2-2 on the season, tied a D-III record with 89 attempts from 3-point land. That matched the total by Redlands in 2005. Additionally, Ky-Sean Johnson '19 became the 27th player in Pioneer history to hit the 1,000-point mark with a 14-point effort. He now has 1,000 points on the nose.
 
Vinny Curta '19 led the Pioneers with 25 points, Hannes Kogelnik '21 added 18 and Jackson Qualley '22 scored 17. Qualley also grabbed a career-high six rebounds, Curta had seven assists and three steals and Kogelnik had three steals.
 
Will Dubow '21 tallied six rebounds and three steals and Griffin Boehm '19 and Brad Geiman '21 had six boards each. Geiman contributed five blocks and Morgan Walser '21 and Jacob Leder '20 two steals each. Leder's was a career-best total.
 
Central built a 56-36 halftime lead and went up by 22 early in the second stanza. That's when the Pioneers went to work. Trailing by 19 points a bit later, Grinnell erupted with an 18-3 run to close the gap to four.
 
Qualley began things with a 3-pointer and, after a Central bucket, Zachary Stice '21 and Johnson hit back-to-back treys. Central followed with a free throw when Derek Jones '22 made a 3-pointer, Curta sank a free throw, Kogelnik a trey and Johnson a layup to make it 68-64 with 11:25 left.
 
Grinnell got within four a few times after that, the final instance on Curta's traditional three-point play that made it 78-74, but Central gradually pulled away to improve to 1-3 on the season.
 
The Pioneers return to Darby Gymnasium Sunday with a contest against Wright State-Lake County. Tip-off is at 1 p.m.