Pioneers pull away late to top Lawrence

GRINNELL, Iowa — The Grinnell College men’s basketball team pulled away in the final minutes and posted a 126-116 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at Darby Gymnasium.

Jack Taylor led Grinnell (5-6, 3-3 MWC) with 21 points but hit just 5-of-15 shots from the floor.

Trace Sonnleitner led Lawrence and all scorers with 23 points as he hit 9-of-12 shots from the floor. Freshman guard Jeremy Stephani added 22 points for the Vikings (4-6, 2-3). Stephani went 6-for-7 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and was 7-for-8 from the foul line.

Jamie Nikitas added 19 points and Ryan DePouw had 18 for the Vikings, and both players had eight rebounds.

Lawrence shot 69.4 percent from the floor and shot 68.4 percent from beyond the arc as the Vikings hit 13-of-19 shots from long distance.

Grinnell led by as many as 16 points in the first half before Lawrence cut the lead to 63-54 at the half. Lawrence opened the second half on a 12-2 run and took a 66-65 lead with 16:38 left on Andrew Borresen’s 3-pointer.

The teams traded the lead before Lawrence built a 94-86 advantage with 10:10 remaining. Grinnell rallied and took the lead back for good at 101-99 on Julian Marx’s 3-pointer with 7:06 left.

Lawrence trailed 104-101 after Nikitas’ layup with 6:32 left, but Grinnell hit its final seven shots from the floor to pull away for the win.

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