The Grinnell College men's basketball team got its 2008-09 campaign off to a sizzling start by rolling past Baptist Bible College of Springfield, Mo., 134-98 Friday night at Darby Gymnasium.

John Grotberg '09 (left) scored 44 points for the winners while hitting a dozen 3-pointers, while Bobby Long '09 (center) tallied a career-high 40 points. David Arseneault '09 (right) had a stellar game, as well, dishing out 23 assists which is the second-highest in his career and outdone only by the NCAA-record 34 he had last year against North Central (Minn). He also scored 15 points and seven rebounds. Kale Knisley '11 also had seven boards.

Also in double-figure scoring was Matt Skelly '12 with 14 points. The Pioneers finished with 33 treys on the night, just four shy of the NCAA Division III record. Grotberg and Long also had five steals each to go with their scoring totals.

Grinnell led just 5-4 early before going on a 17-4 run for a 22-8 edge at the 13:41 mark of the first half. Long began the surge with a 3-pointer, while Grotberg added four treys during the run. The Pioneers led 71-46 at halftime and cruised from there to improve to 1-0.

Baptist Bible, which got 31 points from Daniel Johnson and 18 from Raydel Jones, dipped to 3-6 on the season.

The Pioneers entertain Manhattan Christian College of Manhattan, Kan., 1 p.m. Saturday in Darby Gymnasium.
Box Score

The Grinnell College men's basketball team will tip off its regular-season schedule this weekend with a pair of non-conference home contests.

The Pioneers entertain Baptist Bible College of Springfield, Mo., at 7 p.m. Friday and then face Manhattan Christian College of Manhattan, Kan., 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Pioneers will look to the trio of John Grotberg '09, David Arseneault '09, and Bobby Long '09 to set the tone for the season. Grotberg is coming off of a junior season where he led NCAA Division III in scoring average and 3-pointers per game, averaging 28.1 and 5.8 respectively.

Arseneault, a three-time Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year finalist, will look to continue distributing the ball and improve on his national-leading mark of 10.4 assists per game from a year ago. Long, the Pioneers' second-leading scorer last season, expects to join Grotberg in the national scoring ranks this season as well as being among the nation's leader in steals.

Baptist Bible College is 3-5, with wins coming over Grace University, Ozark Christian College and Calvary Bible College. In the Patriots' latest game, a 116-67 win over Calvary Bible, Daniel Johnson had 30 points, Raydel Jones tallied 15 and Michael Kessling added 14.

Manhattan Christian College was 4-4 as of earlier this week, a run that included an 82-77 win over Baptist Bible College. The Crusaders also own wins over Central Christian College twice as well as Union College. Junior Justin Glenn is the Crusaders' third-leading career scorer and also ranks third in 3-pointers. Kenny Park ranks fourth all-time in assists.

Grinnell was slated to play Vennard College next Tuesday, but that game has been canceled due to the recent announcement that Vennard will be closing. The Pioneers' next contest after this weekend will be Nov. 29 at Milwaukee School of Engineering. Game time is 1 p.m.

With three of the top players in the Midwest Conference returning, coach David Arseneault is expecting his high-flying Grinnell College men's basketball team to have a successful campaign in 2008-09.

The list of accolades by John Grotberg '09, Dave Arseneault '09 and Bobby Long '09 doesn't seem to end. Grotberg, a 6-foot-2 guard, went over the 2,000-point mark last season while Arseneault, also a 6-2 guard, and Long, a 6-0 guard, both went over 1,000.

Arseneault, who has led the nation in assists each of the last three seasons and set an NCAA record with 34 in a game last December, is likely to be a Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award finalist for the third straight season. He averaged a double-double of 16.8 points and 10.4 assists per game Grotberg finished first in Division III in both points per game (28.1) and 3-pointers per game (5.8). Long averaged 22 points a game and helped spark a defense that led the nation with 16 steals per game. The trio is quite likely to become the first in college basketball history to account for 6,500 points as members of the same team.

Coach Arseneault said all three bring solid, yet different, attributes to the Pioneers. "David's got such good command of where other people are on the floor, plus he's a great passer and makes good decisions," he said. "He's our most versatile player. He has shown he can score and would have more points if he wasn't a pass-first type of point guard."

"John has always had the outside game, but the question was when he went to the hole he had a tendency not to always finish strong," the coach added. "But he's changed that this summer. He's become a beast going to the basket and now has become a well-rounded offensive player as opposed to just a shooter. He should really threaten Steve Dieckmann's school record of 37.1 points per game."

"In the past, Bobby Long could shoot well from the outside but when somebody got physical with him he had a tendency to shy away," Arseneault continued. "It took him a while to get over that hurdle, and weight training has been the final piece. Now we just can't find anybody to stop him in practice. If John is going to lead the country in scoring, Bobby could easily be second."

The team's other seniors are 6-1 guard Ahmed Idrissa (6.0 ppg) and 6-0 guard R.J. Roewe (5.4 ppg). "Both of them have found their niche, and each one is comfortable making open shots," said Arseneault. "They don't need to have the ball in their hands to be effective and you can't leave them to double team since they're so high percentage."

The two inside men with the most experience are 6-5 forward P.J. Mahaffey '11 (5.3 ppg, 3.4 rebounds per game) and 6-7 center Kale Knisley '11 (3.0 rpg). "P.J. is still a year away from real stardom simply because he won't get the requisite touches with the big three on the court," said Arseneault. "But he can't be a forgotten man this year, either. He'll be in double figures. Kale put on an extra 12 pounds over the past year and that will bode well for what he'll do around the basket. He'll be able to handle the inside rigors."

Another returnee who will contribute is 5-11 guard Scott Kaitz '11. "Scott has always had a great work ethic, but now with a year under his belt he's more confident," said the coach. "His shot is better and he also has the energy to create havoc defensively."

Newcomers who should contribute immediately, according to the coach, are 6-4 forward Matt Skelly '12, 6-2 guard Xander Strek '12 and 6-1 guard Matt Chalupa '12. "Matt Skelly could be very, very good," said the coach. "He's 6-4 and athletic. For Xander and Matt Chalupa, it's just a matter of time. They have to get a little bit of seasoning but have big potential."

With the graduation of big-man Keith Chamberlain, Arseneault said the Pioneers will have a bit different look this season. "We're going a little bit differently in terms of defensive pressure," he said. "We're experimenting with bigger players up front and putting quickness on the back side so we can be more aggressive. It'll be a quicker game this year and we'll average more points."

Arseneault said one thing that will aid the quickness aspect is a wealth of depth. "From eight to 15, we're better than we've ever been," he said. "That will be critical for us. One area of concern is clearly, at the top end, we have to avoid the injury bug. David, John and Bobby are so critical to what we do. We'll also have some groups on the floor that will have trouble rebounding with the opponent. We'll have to be quick to the ball because we're not going to out-jump people."

Grinnell went 16-8 overall last season and 11-5 in the Midwest Conference, a record that was on track to be better before the Pioneers suffered injuries to key personnel. Arseneault said defending league champ Lawrence University will again be the preseason MWC favorite, but also noted he hasn't set any specific goal for the Pioneers in terms of wins and losses or placing in the league. "If Lawrence isn't the unanimous favorite to win the conference, they should be," he said. "They're loaded and well-coached, and they're used to winning. As for us, this group is more inclined to wanting to have fun and see where that takes us. Rather than being hung up on won-loss record, they want to just go out and do what they do and see what happens."

Among the interesting games for the Pioneers will be hosting non-conference foe Wheaton College on Jan. 3 and playing a contest at Wells-Fargo Arena in Des Moines later that month against Monmouth College. The latter contest will precede a game featuring the Iowa Energy, a member of the NBA Developmental League.

"Wheaton is a great team, but with our system we always hope to bring better teams down to our level," said Arseneault. "I'm curious to see how things work out. The game at Wells Fargo is a nice new wrinkle for each team. We're looking forward to it, plus it will be a chance to play before a NDL team."

John Grotberg '09 (left) finished as the Division III leader in both points per game (28.1) and 3-point field goals made per game (5.8), while David Arseneault '09 (right) was the leader for assists per game (10.4). It marked the third year in a row that Arseneault has been the nation's assists leader.

In addition, the Pioneers led Division III in three team categories - scoring offense (107.9 points per game), 3-point field goals made per game (19.3) and steals per game (16.0). Grinnell took over the top spots in scoring and 3-point field goals from Redlands, Calif.

Grotberg, a 6-foot-2 guard from Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ann Arbor-Pioneer HS), led the nation and conference in scoring (28.1 points per game) and 3-pointers per game (5.83) this season. Grotberg, who is the fourth Pioneer to join the 2,000-point club for his career, also ranked among the MWC leaders in steals (2.54 per game), free throw percentage (fourth at 84.7 percent) and assists (10th at 2.75 per game).

Kent Raymond of Wheaton, Ill., was named the Midwest Region Player of the Year, Washington University's Mark Edwards was tabbed Coach of the Year and Steve Djurickovic of Carathage was named Rookie of the Year.

Grotberg (left), a 6-foot-2 guard from Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ann Arbor-Pioneer HS) led the nation and conference in scoring (28.1 points per game) and 3-pointers per game (5.83) this season. Grotberg, who is the fourth Pioneer to join the 2,000-point club for his career, also ranked among the MWC leaders in steals (2.54 per game), free throw percentage (fourth at 84.7 percent) and assists (10th at 2.75 per game).

Arseneault (center), a 6-2 guard from Grinnell, Iowa (Grinnell HS), was named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award for the second year in a row. He set an NCAA record for assists in a game, regardless of division, with 34 and also set the Grinnell career record for assists. He led the nation and conference in assists with 10.43 per game and was also first in the league in assist-to-turnover ration at 3.08. On top of that, he ranked among the MWC leaders in steals (sixth with 1.43 per game), 3-point percentage (sixth at 43.2 percent) and scoring (seventh at 16.6 points per game).

Long (right), a 6-0 guard from Lake Bluff, Ill. (Lake Forest HS) was the MWC leader in steals with 2.58 per game. He also ranked among the MWC's best in 3-pointers per game (second at 4.58), scoring (third at 22.0 points per game) and free throw percentage (12th at 75.0 percent). Both Long and Arseneault joined the Pioneers' 1,000-point club during the season.

Ryan Kroeger of Lawrence University was named the MWC Player of the Year, while Knox College's Tim Heimann was tabbed Coach of the Year.
Click to read All-MWC release

The winners (15-8) got a basket by Nate Zimmerman with 3.8 points left to advance to the title game, where they will face either top-seeded Lawrence University or No. 4 seed St. Norbert College

No. 2 seed Grinnell (16-8) had a 3-pointer at the end, but it came after the buzzer to preserve No. 3 Carroll's win. Grinnell had four players score in double figures with John Grotberg '09 tallying 36 and Bobby Long '09 adding 26. David Arseneault '09 added a double-double with 17 points and 12 assists, while Keith Chamberlain '08 had 15 points.

The teams played close the whole way, with Carroll leading 56-51 at the end of the first half. In the second half, Grinnell College trailed by a point before going on a 11-4 run for a 105-99 lead with 6:06 left. Mike Schmidt '08, Long and Grotberg all had treys during the run, while Grotberg also had a two-point bucket.

But Carroll rebounded, taking the lead with the 3:33 left on John Hoch's basket that made it 111-110. Grinnell still trailed by four before Arseneault drained a trey with :32 left and Chamberlain scored a layup at the :16 mark to tie the game at 122-all. That set up Zimmernan's game-winner.
Box Score

The 6-foot-2 Arseneault, who led the nation in assists the last two years, is one of 16 finalists for the award presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame and The Hartford. In November, he was among 40 players listed as preseason candidates for the honor.

Arseneault is having another banner season, one highlighted by a 34-assist performance on Dec. 8 against North Central (Minn.). That mark is the highest recorded at any level of NCAA basketball.

Arseneault has 546 assists in his Pioneer career, already a school record. This season, he is averaging a double-double of 15.6 points and a national-high 10.4 assists per contest.

Fans can get in on the voting for the award. To vote for Arseneault, visit cousyaward.com