Guard’s 34 assists a record

DES MOINES, Iowa -- David N. Arseneault shattered the NCAA assists record when he had 34 in Grinnell College’s 151-112 victory over North Central University of Minnesota in a Division III game Saturday.

The record of 26 was set in 1989 by Robert James of Division III Kean University. The Division I record of 22 was achieved by three players, including current Dallas Mavericks Coach Avery Johnson at Southern University in 1988 and Sherman Douglas of Syracuse in 1989.

Grinnell, in central Iowa, is known for rotating five players in and out as often as possible, pressing throughout the game and shooting more than 50 three-point shots. For this game, Coach David M. Arseneault, the guard’s father, planned to play two of his best offensive players, John Grotberg and Keith Chamberlain, in 10-minute shifts to see how many points they could score. When Arseneault had 14 assists by halftime, the focus shifted. Arseneault broke the record with 7 minutes 33 seconds left. The coach said the total could have been higher: Grinnell made only 23 of 86 three-point shots off Arsenault’s passes.

“That’s just so many assists that I thought there was no way,” said Arseneault, who had 22 points and doubled his previous career high for assists.