Things were twice as nice for the Grinnell College men's basketball team in Wednesday night's 100-80 victory over Knox College at Darby Gymnasium.

Not only did the win secure a spot in the Midwest Conference Tournament for the Pioneers, but hot-shooting John Grotberg '09 reached the 2,000-point milestone for his career.

Grotberg (pictured), a 6-foot-2 guard from Ann Arbor, Mich., needed 23 points entering the game to hit 2,000 and ended up finishing with 37. Grotberg, who was 11-of-23 from 3-point land, achieved the milestone with a shot from beyond the arc at the 11:15 point of the second half. Grotberg is the fourth Grinnell player to reach 2,000 points. Others include Steve Wood (2,379), Jeff Clement (2,229) and Steve Diekmann (2,218).

David Arseneault '09 achieved yet another double-double in the contest, tallying 16 points and dishing out an identical number of assists. Bobby Long '09 added 12 points, Mike Schmidt '08 came up with four steals, P.J. Mahaffey '11 grabbed eight rebound and Keith Chamberlain '08 came up with seven boards. Zach Kirven had 23 points to lead Knox.

With the win, Grinnell improved to 10-5 in the MWC and 15-7 overall. Knox fell to 6-9 in MWC play and 7-15 overall.

There were three ties early in the game, the last at 11-all, and Grinnell still led just 17-14 a bit later before going on a pivotal 13-point run to pull away. Arseneault began things with a bucket and free throw, Thomas Davis '10 added a jumper, Chamberlain scored inside and then Grotberg and Arseneault hit back-to-back treys for a 30-14 edge with 9:14 to go. The Pioneers continued to cruise and were up by as many as 24 in the half before settling for a 54-34 halftime cushion.

In the second half, Knox nibbled away at the lead and was within 63-50 at the 15:35 mark. Again, another big run helped Grinnell pull away as the Pioneers scored eight straight points on a basket and free throw by Mahaffey, jumper by R.J. Roewe '09 and 3-pointer from Ahmed Idrissa '09, who also had a few stifling blocks in the contest. Grinnell was in cruise control the rest of the way.

The Pioneers close out the regular season Saturday at Illinois College. Game time is 3 p.m.