JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - In what's already been a stellar season, Grinnell College's men's basketball team took another big step forward Friday night.
The Pioneers avenged a setback at Beloit College just a week-and-a-half ago by working past the Buccaneers 118-115 in the 2024 Midwest Conference Tournament semifinals at Illinois College's gymnasium.
That puts Grinnell (19-6) in the tourney title game for the first time since 2015, where the second-seeded Pioneers will face top-seeded Illinois College at 3 p.m. Saturday. Awaiting that winner is the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Kai Te Huki '27, the nation's top scorer, only added to those numbers as he erupted for a game-high 40 points with the aid of 12-of-25 shooting from the field, an 11-of-13 performance from the free throw line and five treys.
Gabe Garcia '27 put in 28 points and Sean Murphy '26 had 16 with the aid of a 5-of-11 performance from the 3-point arc. Nick Lundy '27 also found double figures with 12 points, with those the result of a career-high four treys.
Beloit (16-10) bolted out to a 10-point lead in the early going and was still up by nine when the Pioneers rolled out a 13-point run late in the first half. Murphy began the surge with a 3-pointer, Garcia sank three free throws, Nick Courtney '26 had two more charity shots and Kai Te Huki '27 scored from close range for a 46-45 Grinnell lead. Murphy added another 3-pointer to make it a four-point edge and the Pioneers kept it up from there, leading 58-50 at intermission.
The Pioneers continued to surge after that, twice going up by 17 points. The first of those instances was 74-57 on a 3-pointer by Max DeGeorge '25 and again at 77-60 on a trey by Murphy.
Beloit kept things interesting, though, gradually closing the gap and forcing a 113-all tie with 1:14 left. Te Huki followed with some heroics, swishing a 3-pointer with just over a minute left to make it a three-point game.
The Buccaneers got a basket with 53 seconds left to bring the margin within a point, but Garcia answered with a close-range bucket of his own with 24 seconds remaining to put the lead back to three.
Beloit managed three shots after that, twice missing 3-pointers and then having a layup blocked by Tolu Johnson '25 right before the buzzer sounded.
Johnson had five rebounds, while Garcia and Zach Rosen '26 added five assists apiece. Te Huki contributed three steals and John Vincent '26 blocked a career-high two shots.
Though seeded below Illinois College, Grinnell won both matchups against the Blueboys this season. The Pioneers won 95-89 in Jacksonville on Jan. 27 and completed the regular-season sweep with a 118-101 decision at Grinnell on Feb. 7.