DE PERE, Wis. - One of the best seasons in the history of Grinnell College men's basketball drew to a close Friday with a 99-77 setback to Lake Forest College in the Midwest Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Pioneers, in a season in which they tied a school record for wins, finished at 19-6. Lake Forest, 17-6, advances to Saturday's title game.
Vinny Curta '19 finished his storied Pioneer career with 21 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Patrick Simms '22 added 12 points, while
Hannes Kogelnik '21 and
Jackson Qualley '22 added 10 each.
Tyler Grumhaus '21 came up with four boards and
Brad Geiman '21 blocked two shots.
Grinnell owned the game for the first 23 minutes. The Pioneers broke away from an early 9-all tie with an 11-point run. Curta and Qualley opened the spurt with 3-pointers, Kogelnik added a layup and
Derek Jones '21 drained a trey to put the Pioneers up 20-9 with 13:56 left in the first half.
The Pioneers stayed in control and even stretched their lead to 53-38 late in the first half before the Foresters rallied within 54-44 by intermission. Grinnell increased its lead in the second half, moving ahead 62-49 with 17:10 left on a 3-pointer by
Will Bebee '22.
However, the Foresters then got hot as Grinnell cooled off. Lake Forest took its first lead since early in the game at the 10:17 mark and continued from there for the win. The Pioneers, after shooting 47.6 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3-point range in the first half, made 28.6 percent of their shots and 18.8 percent of their 3-point tries in the final stanza. Lake Forest shot 63.6 percent in the final 20 minutes.
Grinnell's senior class, which includes Curta,
Ky-Sean Johnson '19 and
Griffin Boehm '19, made a big dent on the Pioneers' all-time statistical list (see chart below). Curta finished as the NCAA Division III career leader for free throw attempts with 943 while also holding school and MWC records for career free throws made with 724. He finished third on Grinnell's career scoring chart with 2,287 points.
Johnson finished with 1,271 points, 18th all-time at Grinnell, while also finishing in the top 20 for career 3-pointers. Boehm finished in the top 10 for career offensive rebounds.
GRINNELL MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-TIME BEST LIST MARKS IN 2018-19
| Individual Career |
Player/Team |
Number |
| Points |
3, Vinny Curta |
2,287 |
|
18, Ky-Sean Johnson |
1,271 |
| Scoring Average |
5, Vinny Curta |
24.1 p/g |
| Field Goals Made |
4, Vinny Curta |
716 |
| Field Goals Attempted |
5, Vinny Curta |
1,512 |
|
19, Ky-Sean Johnson |
1,012 |
| 3-Pointers Made |
16, Ky-Sean Johnson |
230 |
|
17, Hannes Kogelnik |
199 |
| 3-Pointers Attempted |
13, Ky-Sean Johnson |
662 |
|
20, Hannes Kogelnik |
569 |
| Free Throws Made |
1, Vinny Curta |
724 |
| Free Throws Attempted |
1, Vinny Curta |
943 |
| Free Throw Pct. |
19, Vinny Curta |
76.8% (724-of-943) |
| Offensive Rebounds |
7, Griffin Boehm |
192 |
| Offensive Rebound Average |
14, Griffin Boehm |
2.0 p/g |
| Assists |
3, Vinny Curta |
472 |
| Assists Average |
4, Vinny Curta |
5.0 p/g |
| Blocked Shots |
8, Brad Geiman |
93 |
|
14, Will Bebee |
39 |
| Steals |
7, Vinny Curta |
183 |
|
16, Ky-Sean Johnson |
121 |
| Steals Average |
8, Vinny Curta |
1.9 p/g |
| Individual Season |
|
|
| Free Throws Made |
2, Vinny Curta |
212 |
| Free Throws Attempted |
2, Vinny Curta |
266 |
| Free Throw Pct. |
6, Hannes Kogelnik |
87.5% (35-of-40) |
| Assists |
7, Vinny Curta |
152 |
| Assists Average |
10, Vinny Curta |
6.1 p/g |
| Blocked Shots |
2, Brad Geiman |
66 |
|
10, Will Bebee |
39 |
| Blocked Shots Average |
4, Brad Geiman |
2.6 p/g |
| Individual Game |
|
|
| 3-Point Pct. |
1, Zachary Stice |
85.7% vs. Colorado Coll. (6-of-7) |
|
7, Ky-Sean Johnson |
83.3% vs. Lawrence (5-of-6) |
| Free Throws Made |
2, Vinny Curta |
23 vs. Central |
|
8, Vinny Curta |
16 vs. Lake Forest |
|
8, Vinny Curta |
16 vs. Knox |
| Free Throws Attempted |
3, Vinny Curta |
24 vs. Lawrence |
| Free Throw Pct. |
1, Hannes Kogelnik |
100.0% vs. Eureka (10-of-10) |
|
1, Vinny Curta |
100.0% vs. St. Norbert (11-of-11) |
| Blocked Shots |
3, Brad Geiman |
9 vs. Colorado College |
| Team Season |
|
|
| Points |
5, Grinnell |
2,918 |
| Scoring Average |
7, Grinnell |
116.7 p/g |
| Field Goals Made |
4, Grinnell |
968 |
| Field Goals Attempted |
4, Grinnell |
2,242 |
| 3-Pointers Made |
6, Grinnell |
511 |
| 3-Pointers Attempted |
4, Grinnell |
1,424 |
| Free Throws Attempted |
7, Grinnell |
686 |
| Rebounds |
4, Grinnell |
1,101 |
| Offensive Rebounds |
4, Grinnell |
518 |
| Offensive Rebound Avg. |
8, Grinnell |
20.7 |
| Assists |
4, Grinnell |
529 |
| Assists Avg. |
7, Grinnell |
20.6 |
| Blocked Shots |
1, Grinnell |
145 |
| Blocked Shot Avg. |
1, Grinnell |
5.8 |
| Scoring Margin |
2, Grinnell |
15.0 p/g |
| Team Game |
|
|
| Points |
2, Grinnell |
177 vs. Wright State-Lake |
|
5, Grinnell |
164 vs. Emmaus |
| Field Goals Made |
2, Grinnell |
59 vs. Wright State-Lake |
|
7, Grinnell |
54 vs. Emmaus |
| 3-Pointers Made |
1, Grinnell |
42 vs. Emmaus |
|
8, Grinnell |
31 vs. Wright State-Lake |
| 3-Pointers Attempted |
1, Grinnell |
89 vs. Central |
|
2, Grinnell |
88 vs. Emmaus |
| Assists |
2, Grinnell |
42 vs. Emmaus |
| Steals |
2, Grinnell |
30 vs. Knox |
| Blocked Shots |
1, Grinnell |
13 vs. Lawrence |
|
1, Grinnell |
13 vs. Cornell |
|
5, Grinnell |
12 vs. Colorado College |
|
8, Grinnell |
10 vs. Beloit |
