Men's Basketball News Releases
Cornell stands third in conference race with 6-3 mark
Coming up - Wednesday, Jan. 28, vs. Luther (5-12, 2-7), Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon, 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 31, at Simpson (6-12, 2-7), Indianola, 4 p.m.
With a win over Luther Wednesday, the Rams can secure their first winning season since 2002-03, when Coach Ed Timm's squad finished 16-11. Cornell beat the Norse, 65-56, on Jan. 10 in Decorah. The Rams will also seek a regular-season sweep over Simpson, whom they beat 68-60 on Dec. 6, 2008 in Mount Vernon.
Ram review - Cornell picked up a big Iowa Conference home win Wednesday night over Wartburg (71-64), but the Rams saw the momentum of a three-game win streak end in a 61-56 road loss Saturday to Dubuque.
The Rams (13-5 overall, 6-3 IIAC) moved into sole possession of third place in the league with seven regular-season games remaining. Cornell is one-half game ahead of fourth-place Wartburg (5-3). Buena Vista is atop the standings at 8-1, followed by Loras at 7-2.
Cornell plays four of its last seven games at home, where the Rams are 6-2 this season.
Dubuque 61, Cornell 56 (Jan. 24, at Dubuque)
The Rams overcame a 29-19 halftime deficit, but couldn't hold on to a late lead in Dubuque.
Michael Tierney's jumper gave Cornell its last lead of the game at 52-50 with 2:25 left to go. The Spartans hit two free throws to go ahead 59-56. Cornell's Griffin LaDew (Pewaukee, Wis./Waukesha Catholic Memorial) missed a game-tying 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining and Dubuque then iced the game with two more free throws.
Tierney (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) poured in a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and added four assists. LaDew finished with 12 points. Chris Handke (Bellevue/Bellevue) had a game-high eight rebounds.
The Rams were outrebounded, 35-27, and made 15 fewer free throws (10-of-15) than Dubuque attempted (20-of-25).
Cornell 71, Wartburg 64 (Jan. 21, at Mount Vernon)
The Rams broke open a tight game with an 11-0 spurt to start the second half and held off a Wartburg charge at the end.
Cornell took a six-point lead into halftime and built its biggest lead at 43-26 with 17 minutes left to play. The Knights sliced the margin to 60-57 with 2:55 remaining, but Cornell responded with a 9-1 run to pull away.
LaDew led all scorers with 21 points, going 7-of-10 from the field with three 3-point goals. Riley Larson (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) and Tierney tallied 15 points apiece for the Rams, who made seven more free throws (13-of-20) than Wartburg (6-of-8). Tierney also dished out a game-high five assists.
LaDew garners league honor - LaDew was named IIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 25.
The senior guard became the school's all-time scoring leader with a 21-point effort at Coe Jan. 19. He has totaled 1,414 career points, breaking the 22-year old mark of 1,373 points held by Jeff Fleming (1983-87). In three games last week, LaDew averaged 18.0 points while shooting 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field, 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from 3-point range and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the foul line.
The IIAC weekly basketball honor is LaDew's second this season and sixth of his career.
