GRINNELL, Iowa – It was a case of too little, too late for the Grinnell College men's basketball team Wednesday. 
 
The Pioneers dug themselves an early hole and never enjoyed the lead in a 101-92 setback to Cornell College at Darby Gymnasium. 
 
Grinnell (5-5, 1-3 Midwest Conference) got 20 points from Patrick Simms '22, 18 by David Bluder '25 and a career-best 13 by Morgan Walser '22. Will Bebee '22 and Tolu Johnson '25 grabbed career-bests of 12 and seven rebounds, respectively.  
 
Dean Mazlish '23 added career-highs of three assists and two steals. Simms also had three assists and two steals, Walser had three steals and Bebee a blocked shot. 
 
Consecutive 3-pointers gave Cornell (5-3, 3-0 MWC) a 6-0 lead right off the bat. Grinnell rallied to tie it on treys by Bluder and Mazlish, but the Rams pulled away and gradually upped their cushion to as many as 10. 
 
Grinnell did cut the gap to one at 33-32 on Bluder's layup with 4 minutes, 36 seconds left, but again the Rams went on a roll to take a 50-40 lead into the locker room. 
 
The Rams kept it up in the second half, going ahead by 19 midway through and still holding an 18-point edge with 3:28 to go. That's when Grinnell went on its last run, closing the gap to 10 points with half-a-minute left on Bebee's layup and making it a nine-point game on Simms' layup right before the buzzer. 
 
Grinnell takes to the road this weekend, playing a non-conference game at Principia College Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.