APPLETON, Wis. -- An undermanned Lawrence University men's basketball team made a valiant effort Saturday against Grinnell College but came up short in a 102-91 Midwest Conference loss to the Pioneers at Alexander Gymnasium.
    Lawrence was dealing with health and safety protocols, and that meant a different starting lineup and a short bench. Despite that, Lawrence took the high-scoring Pioneers to the wire, but a late scoring drought proved to be the difference.
    Brad Sendell paced Lawrence (6-8, 3-2 MWC) with 27 points and pushed his career total to 1,332. Sendell also collected a game-high five assists to go with six rebounds. 
    Matthew Kaznikov added 18 points for the Vikings to go with seven rebounds and two assists. Will Thomas, playing in the first major action of his Lawrence career, scored 15 points in 16 minutes as he went 6-for-9 from the floor. Kyle Lillwitz picked up 11 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Vikings.
    Patrick Simms led Grinnell (7-6, 2-4) with 29 points.
    Lawrence battled from behind all afternoon and was down 68-58 with 14:26 left in the game. Adnan Sarancic, who had a game-high eight rebounds, hit a layup for the Vikings, and Kaznikov followed with a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 68-63. After a Grinnell miss, Thomas got a layup, and the Pioneers turned the ball over. Sendell then hit a layup to cut the lead to 68-67 with 12:02 remaining.
    Grinnell stopped Lawrence's 9-0 run with a Dean Lazlish layup to push the lead back to 70-67. Grinnell increased its lead to five, but the Vikings chipped away, and a fastbreak layup from Sendell and a pair of Thomas free throws put Lawrence up 80-79 with 7:59 remaining.
    Grinnell scored the next five points, but Lawrence came back with an 8-0 run of its own. Lillwitz scored on a layup, and Jake Fisher added a pair of free throws. After an Elliot Jung layup, Sendell drained a pair of free throws with 3:30 left to give Lawrence an 88-84 advantage.
    The Pioneers countered with 13 consecutive points to seize control and seal the victory. Lawrence went 0-for-5 from the floor in that stretch and committed a pair of turnovers.
    Lawrence got off to a slow start, and the Vikings trailed 18-6 just over six minutes into the game. Lillwitz hit a 3-pointer to start Lawrence on the comeback trail. The Vikings went on a 12-2 run, capped by a Sendell 3-pointer, to trim Grinnell's lead to 20-18.
    Grinnell increased the lead back to eight points, but the Vikings battled back and took their first lead since 4-2 on Kaznikov's 3-pointer for a 35-34 edge. The teams swapped the lead several times before Grinnell grabbed a 53-49 lead at the half.    
    Lawrence returns to action on Wednesday when the Vikings travel to Ripon College.