Athletics - Men's Basketball

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Coming up — Monday, Nov. 19, Knox, Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon, 7 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 28, at Luther, Decorah, 8 p.m.

Ram review – First came the baby, then the Bulldogs, followed by a long road trip. Cornell head men’s basketball coach Mike DeGeorge experienced an eventful opening week to the season, both on and off the hardwood.

DeGeorge’s wife Christi gave birth to their fourth child, Madison Jane, at 1:14 a.m. Nov. 14. The newborn was delivered two weeks early and just in time to allow coach DeGeorge to travel with his team later that day for the Rams’ exhibition game against Division I Drake University in Des Moines. Two days later, DeGeorge and the Rams were back on the road for a two-game trip to Wisconsin.

Cornell fell 92-55 to Drake, despite playing well in spurts and leading the Bulldogs midway through the first half. In a quirk in the NCAA guidelines, the game was ruled an exhibition for Cornell and counted as a regular-season game for Drake. The Rams went 0-2 on their road trip with losses to Marian (88-64) Nov. 16 in Fond du Lac, Wis., and Wisconsin Lutheran (88-80) Nov. 17 in Milwaukee, Wis.

Drake 92, Cornell 55 (exhibition)
Junior Griffin LaDew (Pewaukee, Wis./Waukesha Catholic Memorial) paced the Rams with 15 points in 21 minutes. Sophomore newcomer Riley Larson (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) netted 10 points, including a layup that gave Cornell a 15-13 lead nine minutes into the game. Drake pulled out to a 48-30 lead at halftime.

Drake head coach Keno Davis and his wife celebrated the birth of their first child two days before the DeGeorges.

“We talked about that before the game,” Davis said. “It certainly wasn’t the best time. As coaches, you don’t get much sleep anyway. We both got a little less this week.”

“It was a relief,” DeGeorge said. “I was able to enjoy the game.”

Davis was quick to applaud Cornell’s effort, especially in the first half.

“We faced a really well-coached team in Cornell,” Davis said. “Cornell was very well-prepared. Coach DeGeorge does a great job and had them ready to play.”

“It was fun for the kids to play in that setting and I felt good about the way they responded,” DeGeorge said. “We were aggressive early on and knocked down some open looks. We handled their pressure well (21 turnovers is the fewest by a Drake opponent this season). I like this group. We just have to be able to sustain some things.”

Marian 88, Cornell 64
Cornell junior point guard Michael Tierney (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) tossed in a team-high 12 points against, including perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the foul line. Larson finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and Joe Newcomb (Salem, Ind./Eastern) had 10 points and five rebounds.

The Rams trailed 42-28 at halftime. Marian pulled away in the second half with 63.3 percent shooting and shot 57.6 percent (34-59) for the game, including 12-of-25 from 3-point range. The Rams shot 38.2 percent from the field and connected on just 2-of-16 3-point goals.

Wisconsin Lutheran 88, Cornell 80
The Rams trimmed a 10-point deficit with three minutes to play to 81-78 on a pair of free throws by Corey Dieser (Albert Lea, Minn./ Albert Lea) with 55 seconds remaining. Wisconsin Lutheran responded by scoring seven unanswered points to seal the win.

Larson posted his first double-double as a Ram with 19 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 forward shot 8-of-17 from the field and 3-of-4 from the foul line. Tierney tallied 15 points and dished out a game-high eight assists. The Rams accounted for 27 points off the bench, eight each from Jeff Bitter (Bettendorf/Bettendorf), Chris Handke (Bellevue/Bellevue) and Bitter.