MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – Vinny Curta '19 broke a record more than a half-century old and Grinnell College's men's basketball team has won its initial three Midwest Conference road games for the first time since 2012-13 with a 121-104 win at Cornell College Wednesday night. 
 
Curta went 7-of-10 at the free throw line to give him 587 career charity shots, breaking the Midwest Conference record of 583 by Pete Kovacs of Monmouth College from 1951-55. Grinnell, off to its first 3-0 start in league play since 2016-17, improved to 6-2 overall. Cornell fell to 0-3 in the MWC and 1-6 in all games. 
 
Curta led Grinnell's balanced scoring attack with 27 points, while Hannes Kogelnik '21 hit 7-of-11 shots from 3-point range to finish with 26 points. Jackson Qualley '22 chipped in 20 points and Ky-Sean Johnson '19 added 14 on 4-of-10 shooting from 3-point land. Will Bebee '22 grabbed a career-best eight rebounds and blocked five shots, also a career high, while Johnson had two steals and Qualley a career-high eight assists. 
 
Grinnell used a big run toward the end of the first half to put some distance between itself and the hosts. Ahead 49-45, Kogelnik hit a 3-pointer, Brad Geiman '21 converted a dunk, Kogelnik added another trey and Johnson hit a 3-pointer to put the Pioneers up 60-45. Grinnell stretched its lead out to 21 points on a 3-pointer by Kogelnik before going into halftime with a 72-54 lead. 
 
The Pioneers never let the Rams closer than 11 points the rest of the way to sew up the win. During the game, Curta boosted his career field goal total to 591 which is tied for seventh best in program history. 
 
Grinnell plays its first home league game Saturday when Knox College visits Darby Gymnasium. Action begins at 3 p.m.