Grinnell player scores 89 points

You're probably never heard the name Griffin Lentsch before.

I wouldn't blame you. Lentsch is a junior guard at Grinnell, a Division III school in Iowa. That isn't exactly a program that is going to be the lede on Sportscenter every night.

But Grinnell is one of the most unique programs in the country. They run a hockey-style system, pressing full-court for 40 minutes and shooting strictly lay-ups and three-pointers. As a result, Grinnell has some incredibly impressive offensive outputs.

Enter Lentsch.


In the Pioneer's 145-97 win over Principia on Saturday, Lentsch went for a D-III record 89 points. He was 27-55 from the field, 15-33 from three and 20-22 from the line. It was the third highest total in NCAA history -- Frank Selvy has the D-I record, scoring 100 points in a game, while Clarence Francis scored 113 points for Rio Grande. Both of those performances came in 1954.

“It’s still setting in,” he said. “I didn’t think I would ever score that many points. ... I was trying some 3s, but some of them weren’t dropping so I started driving to the basket. I figured if I could get some easier shots and also get to the free throw line, that would help me reset and get my shooting touch and confidence back."

“All the credit goes to my teammates, in all honesty. They did such a great job of setting screens and getting me open. I never would have come remotely close to doing this without them.”

Look at the box score.

That's awesome.