GRINNELL, Iowa – After losing to Ripon College earlier this month, the Grinnell College men's basketball team was after revenge Saturday afternoon.
 
The Pioneers got that in thrilling fashion by defeating the league-leading Red Hawks 104-101 in a key Midwest Conference game at Darby Gymnasium.
 
The win pushed Grinnell to 6-4 in the league and 9-6 overall. Ripon – fresh off a victory over St. Norbert College that ended the Green Knights' 72-game winning streak against conference teams – to 8-2 in the MWC and 12-3 overall.
 
Grinnell not only got key contributions from several players, but held the nation's leading scorer – Ty Sabin – to five points under his season average.
 
Vinny Curta '19 had an impressive game for the Pioneers, who snapped a three-game losing streak to Ripon, by tallying a game-high 35 points to go along with four assists.
 
Ky-Sean Johnson '19 scored 21 points with the help of 10-of-10 free throw shooting, and Jacob Ekstrand '18 put in a career-high 20 with the aid of 8-of-11 field goal shooting and a 4-of-7 performance from 3-point land. His eight field goals were also a career-high.
 
Johnson also had three assists as did Nathan Balcom '18, career-highs for both of them. Balcom also had three steals, Griffin Boehm '19 grabbed seven rebounds and Nick Curta '17 blocked two shots.
 
After falling behind 5-0 right off the bat, Grinnell rallied and took the lead for good at 13-11 on a layup by Vinny Curta with 15:59 left in the first half.
 
The Pioneers were ahead 54-48 at intermission and continued to pour it on, grabbing a 16-point lead at 87-71 on a 3-pointer by Julian Marx '17 with 8:01 left.
 
However, Ripon fought back and made it interesting. But each time, the Pioneers held off the Red Hawks.
 
Ripon made it a 95-93 game with 2:37 left before Vinny Curta pushed Grinnell ahead by four with two free throws.
 
When the Red Hawks again pulled within two, Vinny Curta had a free throw to push the hosts ahead 98-95 with 59 seconds to play.
 
Ripon then scored, but Vinny Curta countered with a jumper for a 100-97 Grinnell lead with 14 ticks left.
 
Sabin was then fouled on a 3-pointer and made two free throws to make it a one-point game again. The Red Hawks fouled Vinny Curta, who sank both charity shots for a 102-99 lead.
 
Sabin was fouled with 3 seconds to go and made both shots. Ikaika Phillip '18 was fouled a second later, but calmly tossed in a pair of free throws to make it 104-101.
 
Ripon tried a desperation shot at the buzzer but it was off the mark, preserving Grinnell's win.
 
The Pioneers remain in league play Wednesday with a game at Cornell College in Mount Vernon. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.