Monmouth College eked out an 82-80 victory over the Grinnell College men's basketball team Wednesday night in Monmouth, Ill.
Four Pioneers scored in double figures, led by Dylan Seelman's 18 points via six 3-pointers. Xander Strek '12 (pictured) had 14 points, Matt Skelly '12 added 12 and Matt Chalupa '12 had 10. Kale Knisley '11 added nine rebounds and Scott Kaitz '11 distributed five assists.
Grinnell is now 3-6 in the Midwest Conference and 4-11 in all games. Monmouth, 3-6 in the MWC and 4-12 overall, was paced by Michael DeDecker's 19 points.
Grinnell trailed much of the first half before going up by six on a 3-pointer by Aaron Epps '11. The Pioneers were up 40-36 at the break. In the second half, Grinnell went up by eight when Strek hit a trey at the 17:50 mark to make it 48-40. Grinnell led by eight once more before Monmouth rallied, and after that it was back-and-forth the rest of the way.
Seelman hit a 3-pointer with 2:14 left to tie the game at 80, but two Monmouth free throws after that sealed the win for the hosts.
The Pioneers travel to Lake Forest College on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game.
