GRINNELL, Iowa - Grinnell College's men's basketball team gave the large home crowd a thrill on Senior Day Saturday, knocking off Lake Forest College 110-95 in a battle of top-division Midwest Conference teams.

Grinnell got out to a 53-46 lead at Darby Gymnasium in a hard-fought first half and then held off the pesky Foresters in the second stanza, moving to 8-1 in the league and 13-3 in all games. Grinnell is off to its best start in MWC play since 2011-12.

Grinnell's Gabe Garcia '27 was on fire from the field, hitting 7-of-10 field goals while finishing with 20 points. Sean Murphy '26 also came up big in the scoring column with 19 points on electric 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point land, while Tyler Copes '29 poured in a career-high 17 points and Zach Rosen '26 had 12.

Rosen led a balanced rebounding attack with six and Nick Courtney '26 and Copes each grabbed five. Kai Te Huki '27 dished out nine assists, a season-high for a Grinnell player, and also had four steals. Garcia also had four steals. Courtney, John Vincent '26 and Copes all blocked two shots.

A huge run in the first half helped Grinnell pull away from a 27-26 early lead. Te Huki made a layup, Carson DeBruhl '27 sank a 3-pointer and Copes drained a jumper for a 34-26 edge. After Lake Forest scored, Garcia got two consecutive layups, Murphy connected on a trey and Sean Walser '26 had a layup for a 43-26 edge.

Grinnell led 53-46 at halftime and kept it up from there, scoring the first six points of the second half on a layup by Copes, 3-pointer by Rosen and free throw by Vincent for a 59-46 edge. Lake Forest, 11-7 overall and 6-3 in the MWC, never got closer than six after that.

The Pioneers are on the road Tuesday to face Beloit College. Tip-off is 5 p.m.