Beloit College rallies, but falls shot in MWC tourney against Grinnell

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Beloit College’s Buccaneers nearly rallied their way to victory over high-scoring Grinnell on Friday night, but fell just short.

The Pioneers advanced to the title game in the Midwest Conference Tournament with a 118-115 victory at Illinois College.

The Bucs had knocked off the Pioneers a week-and-a-half ago in regular season play, but this time they had no answer for Kai Te Huki, the leading scorer in NCAA Division III. He dropped 40 points on them, converting 12-of-25 shots and 11-of-13 free throws. He had five of Grinnell’s 16 3-pointers.

The Bucs (16-10, 9-7 MWC) got off to a great start, scoring the first eight points and taking a 12-5 lead in the first four minutes. They still led by nine when Grinnell ran off 13 straight points late in the first half for a 46-45 lead with 2 minutes left.

Beloit committed 12 first-half turnovers and trailed 58-50 at halftime. The Bucs fell behind by 17 twice in the second half, the latter at 77-60.

With 10:40 remaining in the game, Brian Rusch got the deficit to single digits with a 3-pointers. Anthony Carter got it to eight, 108-100, with 3:49 left.

Beloit finally tied the game at 113-113 on a pair of free throws by Clayton Jenny with 1:14 remaining.

Te Huki answered with a 3-pointer 10 seconds later for a three-point game.

The Bucs’ Dae’Quan Davis scored with 53 seconds left to cut it to 116-115, but the Pioneers’ Gabe Garcia answered from close-range with 24 seconds left to hike the lead back to three.

Beloit managed three shots in the remaining time, missing a pair of 3-pointers before a follow-up on a rebound was blocked at the buzzer.

Azeez Ganiyu led the Bucs with 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 free throws. He also had 10 rebounds. Semaj Roy was next with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 8-of-12 free throws. He also had 17 rebounds.

Jenny was 4-of-5 on 3-pointers and had 18 points to match Davis, who was 9-of-15 from the field. Rusch chipped in 10 points.

The Bucs shot 57 percent from the field (45-79), including 8-of-18 on 3-pointers. They were 17-of-29 from the free-throw line. They outrebounded Grinnell 57-39, but committed 25 turnovers to Grinnell’s 11.

The Pioneers shot 45.9 (39-85), including 16-of-46 3-pointers. Garcia finished with 28 points and Sean Murphy had 16 for Grinnell. NIck Lundy also 12 points.

The Bucs will return most of the players from this season, including Ganiyu, who says he will use his bonus COVID-related season. Predicted to finish eighth in the preseason poll, they enjoyed their first 10-plus victory season since 2015-16. Their 16 wins are the most in a season since the 1992-93 season when they won 21.

Grinnell went on to lose to host Illinois College in the title game 108-84. The Pioneers had won both regular-season games with IC and led the title game 58-43 at the half, but couldn’t hang on.

• BOXSCORE:

GRINNELL 118, BELOIT 115

Beloit College 50 65 — 115

Grinnell College 58 60 — 118

BELOIT COLLEGE (fg-fga ft-fta pts) — Ganiyu 9-10 6-10 24, Roy 7-12 8-12 22, Jenny 6-8 2-3 18, Nixon 3-6 0-2 7, Scuefield 2-4 0-0 4, Davis 9-15 0-0 18, Rusch 3-7 1-2 10, Carter 4-12 0-0 8, Lewis 1-1 0-0 2, Bozzo 1-2 0-0 2, Myles 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 45-79 17-29 115.

GRINNELL (fg-fga ft-fta pts) — Te Huki 12-25 11-13 40, Murphy 5-11 1-1 16, Lee 1-7 0-0 3, Rosen 1-2 1-2 3, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Garcia 10-16 8-13 28, Lundy 4-6 0-0 12, Tarighi 4-7 1-1 9, DeGeorge 1-2 0-0 3, Courtney 0-2 2-2 2, Bluder 0-4 0-0 0, Gastring 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 39-85 24-32 118.

3-pt. Goals: BC 8-18 (Jenny 4-5, Nixon 1-1, Rusch 3-4, Carter 0-6, Myles 0-2), GC 16-46 (Te Huki 5-14, Murphy 5-11, Lee 1-6, Garcia 0-1, Lundy 4-5, DeGeorge 1-2, Courtney 0-2, Bluder 0-4, Gestring 0-1). Fouled out: Rusch. Total fouls: BC 27, GC . Rebounds: BC 57 (Roy 17, Ganiyu 10), GC 39 (Johnston 5). Assists: BC 25 (Jenny 5, Scuefield 5), GC 15 (Garcia 5, Rosen 5). Turnovers: BC 25, GC 11.