Saturday, Jan. 6 – Lawrence hosted back-to-back basketball games versus conference rival Grinnell College last weekend, with the Vikings victorious in both contentious matches.
The men’s team played first on Saturday afternoon. The game was close throughout and ultimately ended 104-96 in Lawrence’s favor, marking Grinnell’s third loss on the season, and Lawrence’s third win.
The Vikings had a strong start and were up 61-53 at the half, before Grinnell’s Pioneers came back in the second and managed to tie the game with six minutes remaining. Following several missed three point shot attempts by the Pioneers, and thanks to stand out performances by Lawrence’s Adnan Sarancic, Nicholas Gouriotis and Casey Schoenecker, both teams finished the second half with 43 points each. The win was within one point with as little as 2:13 remaining, but the Vikings quickly widened that gap, resulting in a Lawrence victory.
Senior forward Sarancic put up a season-high 23 points, including two free throws late in the game which brought the score to 102-94. Gouriotis, a first-year forward, had a likewise-impressive 21 points, while rookies Schoenecker and Hogan Demovsky (a forward and guard, respectively) each scored 17.
Immediately following the men’s game, Lawrence and Grinnell’s women’s teams faced off. Lawrence put on a nail-biting performance during their win in overtime. Prior to Saturday’s game, Grinnell College’s women’s team were previously 8-5 on their season.
The Vikings leading scorer was junior Mallory Meyer with 17 points and a team-high of 8 rebounds. Senior Maggie Culver also contributed to Lawrence’s success by putting up 12 points and 6 rebounds with the addition of Nikola Kuzmanovic who had 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.
After finishing the third quarter with a lead of 44-32, both Grinnell College and Lawrence University put up several important points, trimming the game down to 55-55 and sending the game into overtime. With seconds left on the clock, Culver made her free throws after being fouled in the paint which gave the women’s team the 62-59 edge. The team finished the game with a 48-41 lead in rebounds and went 25-for-67 (37.3%) from the floor.