GRINNELL, Iowa – It's only fitting that on a day when Grinnell College honored its seven seniors, the Pioneers played one of the most thrilling men's basketball games at Darby Gymnasium in some time.

The Pioneers trailed by 10 early in the second half against Lake Forest College Saturday afternoon before some late magic forced overtime. Grinnell dominated the extra period, outscoring the visitors 14-7 in the five-minute span to pull out a 137-130 victory in front of a near-full house of loud fans.

The victory put the Pioneers a mere half-game behind Midwest Conference leader Monmouth College, moving to 10-3 in league play and 17-5 in all games. The Foresters fell to 6-6 in the MWC and 9-12 overall. Grinnell, which has won four in a row, avenged an 11-point setback to the Foresters last month. 

The Foresters led 63-58 at halftime and controlled the early part of the second half, going up by 10 at 76-66 with 15:38 remaining. But the Pioneers chopped away at the gap, eventually taking an 88-87 lead on Nick Lundy's '27 layup with 10:05 remaining.

After that, it went back and forth with the contest tied at 111-all after Sean Murphy's '26 3-pointer at the 2:55 mark. Following a four-point run by the visitors, Kai Te Huki made a basket and two free throws to tie the contest at 115-all with 1:34 left. Lake Forest built a 120-117 lead with 50 ticks on the clock, but Tolu Johnson '25 stopped the bleeding with two free throws. 

The teams traded baskets after that and Lake Forest made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left for a 123-121 lead. Gabe Garcia '27 drove in for a layup 6 seconds later to tie the game and the Pioneers stopped Lake Forest from scoring after that, forcing overtime.

John Vincent '26 and Garcia scored the first two baskets to open overtime, putting Grinnell ahead by four. After two free throws by the visitors, Johnson scored from close range and Lundy added two free throws. The Pioneers were never pushed the rest of the way.

Garcia led the Pioneers with 34 points, while Te Huki put in 17, Vincent scored 13 and Murphy had 11. Jackson Leone '25 and Vincent came up with seven and six rebounds, respectively, and Vincent blocked three shots. Harris Dar '28 added seven assists and Zach Rosen '26 came up with two steals.

David Bluder '25 played his 97th career game for Grinnell, one shy of the school record, while Johnson moved to 15th in career rebounds with 446. Garcia ranks 16th for career free throws made with 258 and Vincent is 19th in blocked shots with 35.

Dar has 114 assists this season, 20th in program history. As a team, Grinnell has 1021 rebounds this season (12th all-time), 872 made field goals (13th), 450 made free throws (16th) and 454 assists (16th).

The Pioneers travel to Jacksonville, Ill., on Tuesday to face defending MWC champ Illinois College. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.