Carroll once again used a balanced offensive attack and mixed things up just enough defensively to edge Grinnell.
Junior Ben Hickethier (Adams, Wis./Adams-Friendship) led all scorers with 30 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Nathan Drury (Littleton, Colo./Littleton) came off the bench to add 22 points while senior Kevin Lauer (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) and sophomore Jason Scheper (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) added 21 and 20 points, respectively.
Grinnell had seven players reach double-figures in scoring, led by junior Eric Walsh.
Carroll led 71-60 at halftime but Grinnell quickly erased the lead and tied the score at 71 with 18:24 remaining in the game. The Pioneers regrouped and went on to take an 18-point lead, their largest of the game, with 12:04 remaining. Grinnell once again closed the gap and actually took the lead on two occasions, the latest coming with 3:19 remaining at 121-120. Clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch sealed the win for Carroll, improving their record to 10-5 overall, 6-2 in the Midwest Conference.
“This was a hotly contested and hard fought game and our team showed a lot of will and determination,” said Carroll head coach David Schultz. “We stayed composed against their pressure and were able to play with the lead in the last few minutes. We went into this game with a plan and our players did a great job in making the win happen.”
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