GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College's men's basketball team left it all on the floor Saturday afternoon in an epic battle with nationally-ranked St. Norbert College.
The Pioneers led a good chunk of the way and battled to overtime where the 23rd-ranked Green Knights eked out a 116-113 win at Darby Gymnasium on Senior Day.
Jackson Qualley '22 had 24 points and seven assists for the Pioneers, who are 8-8 in the Midwest Conference and 12-11 overall.
Hannes Kogelnik '21 added 17 points and two steals,
Aiden Gilbert '23 also had 17 points,
Adam Phillips '23 poured in 15 on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point land and
Will Bebee '22 came up with 11 points and six boards.
Brad Geiman '21 blocked four shots, boosting his season total to 51 which ranks seventh in Pioneer history.
The first half was tight throughout, with Grinnell holding a 47-45 lead at intermission. The Pioneers looked well on their way to victory, twice building 11-point leads midway through the second half. The last of those was at 78-67 on a layup by
Will Dubow '21.
But the Green Knights, who clinched the MWC regular season title while improving to 15-1 in the league and 20-3 overall, rallied and eventually went ahead. St. Norbert was up 100-97 before Qualley drained a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left to tie it up. The Green Knights had two shots in the final seconds, but missed both tries to force overtime.
St. Norbert scored the first six points of overtime, but Grinnell came back to twice close within one. Trailing by seven points, Kogelnik hit a 3-pointer and Gilbert a free throw and layup to bring the Pioneers within 109-108 with 1:56 left.
Grinnell again made it a one-point game at 114-113 on
Tyler Grumhaus' '21 free throws with 48 seconds left. However, the Green Knights made two free throws with 21 seconds left and the Pioneers missed two shots down the stretch.
During the game, Kogelnik moved onto Grinnell's all-time scoring chart and now ranks 19th with 1,182 points.
The Pioneers play at Beloit College Tuesday. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.
