APPLETON, Wis. - An incredible comeback in the second half came up just short as Grinnell College's men's basketball team dropped a 104-96 Midwest Conference decision at Lawrence University Saturday afternoon.
Even with the loss, Grinnell remained tied atop the league standings since co-leader Illinois College lost at Ripon College. Grinnell is 5-1 in the MWC and 10-3 overall with its first road loss of the season, while Lawrence improved to 3-12 in all games and 1-5 in the league.
The Pioneers trailed by 12 points with just over 12 minutes remaining and were down by nine four minutes later posting a big comeback. With the visitors trailing 88-79, Jackson Leone '25 drained a 3-pointer, Zach Rosen '26 sank a free throw and Kai Te Huki '27 swished a trey to bring the Pioneers within 88-86.
After a Lawrence free throw, Te Huki tossed in another 3-pointer to tie the game 89-all with 6:21 left. Lawrence immediately went on a five-point run, but Grinnell remained in contention as Jordan Lee '27 and Gabe Garcia '27 each made layups to make it 94-93 with 2:13 remaining.
However, the Vikings countered with a run of their own and never looked back on their way to victory.
Te Huki, the top 3-point shooter at the NCAA Division-III level, drained four shots from beyond the arc while scoring 22 points. Others in double figures for the Pioneers were Ryan Tarighi '27 and Garcia with 15 points each and Lee with 10. Tarighi's total was a career-high.
Tolu Johnson '25 grabbed eight boards and tied a career-best by blocking three shots for Grinnell, and Jack Ruhanen '25 had five boards. Te Huki led the team with a career-best four assists and also posted three steals, while Leone came up with a career-high six steals.
Johnson's career total for blocked shots is now 36, which ranks 16th in program history.
Grinnell has a pair of home games next week, beginning Wednesday when Beloit College visits Darby Gymnasium for a MWC test. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m