By Ezra Pine
pineezra@grinnell.edu
After dropping their first three games of the season, the men’s basketball team (4–3) has bounced back in a major fashion by winning four straight games.
The shift all started on November 23, when in the span of four days they took down three non-conference opponents: Great Lakes Christian College 116–90, Providence University College 172–95, and Westminster College 139–94. Then, in their first MWC game this past Wednesday night, they ran Cornell College out of the gym, beating them 110–84.
“We are a team with a lot of talent, but we quickly realized we would have to play hard in order to succeed. We won’t win on talent alone,” forward Will Beebee ’22 said. In each of the games, their opponents couldn’t handle the Pioneers’ full court pressure. They got off to early leads in each game, and kept their foot on the gas the whole way through.
Guard Patrick Simms ’22 stood out in particular, as he averaged 31 points, six assists and three steals throughout the four game stretch. As a result, he was named MWC Performer of the Week. Outside of Simms, guard Jackson Qualley ’22 continues to light up the scoreboard. He put up a career-high 30 points against Westminster, and he’s played a key role in leading the offense throughout the team’s four-game win streak. Guard Hannes Kogelnik ’21 also caught fire against in the victory against Providence, putting up 40 points while going seven of 13 from beyond the arc.
While it took a little while for the squad to get their offense rolling, they’re feeling a lot more confident now that they’ve played more games together and gotten more experience. “We’ve been getting a lot more comfortable in our system and we’ve been getting a lot more open looks. It just took a little time to adjust because of the players we lost and the new class of first-years,” Kogelnik said.
In the front court, forwards Will Beebee and Brad Geiman have been thriving. Beebee had an amazing statline against Cornell, putting up 12 points, 10 boards and seven blocks; Geiman also had a respectable eight points, eight boards and two blocks in the conference matchup. Both of them will be cornerstone pieces for the team’s defense this season.
Looking forward, the team goes on the road to play Knox College on Saturday, and then they’ll host Central College next Wednesday. After that, they’ll have to wait until January to play more conference games. “To succeed in conference play we have to continue to play fast and work harder than our opponents to tire them out. Besides that, we just gotta hit our shots,” Beebee said.