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Grinnell College Athletics

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Team
Cory Hall
89
Winner Grinnell GC 6-1,2-0 Midwest Conference
87
Knox KC 3-3,0-1 Midwest Conference
Winner
Grinnell GC
6-1,2-0 Midwest Conference
89
Final
87
Knox KC
3-3,0-1 Midwest Conference
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Grinnell GC 42 47 89
Knox KC 35 52 87

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Ted Schultz

Garcia's late basket sends Pioneers to thrilling victory at Knox

GALESBURG, Ill. - After losing twice in a row in trips to Knox College, the Grinnell College men's basketball team was anxious to break that streak.

Mission accomplished.

Grinnell broke out to a 42-35 halftime lead and got a last-second basket by Gabe Garcia '27 to pull out an 89-87 victory over the Prairie Fire Tuesday.

Off to its best start since the 2017-18 campaign, Grinnell improved to 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Midwest Conference while stretching its winning streak to six games.

Grinnell had the lead throughout the second half before the Prairie Fire tied it with 15 seconds left on a 3-pointer.

After a Grinnell timeout, Garcia took the inbounds pass, dribbled quickly down the right side of the court, split two defenders and  sliced through the middle of the lane for a layup with 2 seconds left.

Knox, 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the MWC, called timeout after that. When play resumed, Grinnell's defense prevented the Prairie Fire from getting off a shot to secure the victory.

Kai Te Huki '27 and Garcia scored 21 and 19 points, respectively, for the Pioneers. Te Huki was 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

Garcia also had five rebounds, Jordan Lee '27 dished out four assists and Nick Courtney '26 and Dillon Gestring '26 had career-highs of four steals each.

Grinnell was aided by a season-high free throw percentage of 82.6 percent, hitting 19-of-23 shots from the stripe.

The Pioneers went up by as many as 11 points in the first half before going into the locker room with a seven-point edge. 

Grinnell twice went up by nine points early in the second half, but the Prairie Fire rallied and stayed in contention. Leading by just two with a few minutes to play, Grinnell broke away as Te Huki and Courtney each made a pair of free throws and Tolu Johnson '25 added a layup for an 86-78 lead with 1:34 left.

Knox countered with a 9-1 run to tie the game, setting up the Pioneers' thrilling finish.

The Pioneers are back home Saturday to entertain Lawrence University at Darby Gymnasium. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.
 
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