Athletics - Men's Basketball

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Coming up — Wednesday, Jan. 23, at Coe (8-8 overall, 3-4 IIAC), Cedar Rapids, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, Jan. 30, at Central (10-5, 3-5), Pella, 8 p.m.

Ram review – Cornell went 1-2 during a tough six-day stretch which ended with a heartbreaking 92-90 overtime loss to Dubuque Jan. 21 in Mount Vernon. The Rams posted an impressive 72-60 home win over Wartburg Jan. 16, but then fell 82-66 to Buena Vista Jan. 21 in Storm Lake.

The Rams (6-10 overall, 4-3 Iowa Conference) slid into a tie with Dubuque for third place in the league race. Buena Vista sits atop the standings at 7-0, followed by Loras at 5-2.

Dubuque 92, Cornell 90 OT (Jan. 21, at Mount Vernon)
The teams combined for 32 points in overtime, the final two coming on a tip-in by Matthew McDonald just before time expired to lift the Spartans to a dramatic victory.

Cornell and Dubuque both set season highs for points in a game this season. The see-saw battle witnessed 12 ties and 13 lead changes. Dubuque blistered the nets with 58.6 shooting for the game, including 11-of-24 from 3-point range. The Rams shot 10-of-21 from long range and hit 20-of-22 free throws.

“I was disappointed with our defensive performance, especially in the first half,” said Cornell head coach Mike DeGeorge, whose team trailed 46-40 at intermission. “We made too many mistakes to win. I was real proud of how we fought in the second half. We kept fighting back.”

The Rams erased a seven-point deficit with 2:11 remaining in overtime and tied the score at 90-90 on a conventional 3-point play from Michael Tierney (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) with 11 seconds left. Dubuque’s Tyler Daugherty had his final 3-point attempt bounce off the rim, but McDonald was there for the putback a split second before the horn sounded.

Junior Griffin LaDew (Pewaukee, Wis./Waukesha Catholic Memorial) buried five 3-point goals and tied Daugherty for game-high scoring honors with 27 points. Tierney tossed in 22 points and Riley Larson (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) pitched in 10 points and seven rebounds.

Buena Vista 82, Cornell 66 (Jan. 19, at Storm Lake)
Larson notched team highs with 16 points and seven rebounds, but they weren’t enough to knock off IIAC unbeaten Buena Vista on its home floor.

The Rams trailed 40-32 at intermission and sliced a 16-point second-half deficit to 60-56 with 8:21 remaining before the Beavers pulled away. Buena Vista owned a 39-29 edge on the boards and shot 52.1 percent from the field. The Rams shot 40.3 percent for the game.

“ Buena Vista is an excellent team and controlled the game for 40 minutes,” DeGeorge said. “I was disappointed in our approach. We need to learn how to mentally prepare for road games and bring the intensity it takes to compete with this caliber of team.”

Larson went 6-of-10 from the field and made three of the Rams’ nine 3-point goals. Chris Handke (Bellevue/Bellevue) and J. Ryan Lott (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Tierney added eight points and four assists.

Cornell 72, Wartburg 60 (Jan. 16, at Mount Vernon)
The Rams had four players score in double figures and shot a season-high 55.3 percent from the field to fend off the visiting Knights. Cornell beat Wartburg for just the second time in the last 10 tries.

“This was our most complete effort of the season, with the exception of (20) turnovers,” DeGeorge said. “We had major contributions from almost everyone. Riley Larson had his best game of the season offensively and really worked hard on the glass.”

Larson paced Cornell with 15 points and seven rebounds. Tierney finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. LaDew and Lott each chipped in 13 points. Lott set a career high for points with a flawless shooting night, going 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from 3-point range while hitting both of his free throw attempts.

The Rams carried a 38-28 lead into halftime and led by as many as 17 points in the second half. Cornell shot 66.7 percent from long range, hitting 8-of-12 3-point goals.

LaDew closing in on 1,000 points – LaDew enters the Jan. 23 game at Coe with 993 career points in three seasons with the Rams. The 6-2 guard can become the 17 th member of Cornell’s 1,000-point club. The last Ram to reach the milestone was Jeff Ecker, who finished with 1,021 points from 2002-06.

Rams in the rankings – LaDew ranks in the top five in the IIAC in four statistical categories. He leads the league in 3-point goals made per game (3.19) and free throw percentage (92.3) and is fourth in scoring (16.8 ppg) and steals (1.5 spg). Tierney stands second in free throw percentage (92.1) and third in assists (3.4 apg). Handke is third in offensive rebounds per game (2.8) and fifth in total rebounds (6.6 rpg).