Men's Basketball News Releases
Access the News Release archive
Coming up — Wednesday, Dec. 5, Mount Mercy, Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon, 7 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 9, Clarke, Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon, 2 p.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 12, at Augustana, Rock Island, Ill., 7:30 p.m.
Ram review – The Rams (2-2) made key plays down the stretch and held off Luther, 54-51, in the Iowa Conference opener for both teams Nov. 28 in Decorah. Cornell’s nonconference game with Clarke Dec. 1 was postponed due to inclement weather and has been rescheduled for Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Small Multi-Sport Center in Mount Vernon.
Cornell led Luther by as many as 12 points in the first half, but found itself trailing 50-49 with less than two minutes left in regulation. Griffin LaDew (Pewaukee, Wis./Waukesha Catholic Memorial) drained a 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining that put Cornell ahead to stay and Riley Larson (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) hit a pair of late free throws to provide the final margin.
It marked the first time since the 2002-03 season that the Rams opened league play with a victory. Cornell went 0-8 in IIAC road games last season.
“We played great during the first 10 minutes of the game. We were able to build a double-digit lead and were clicking on all cylinders,” said head coach Mike DeGeorge, whose team led 32-26 at halftime. “We struggled offensively the rest of the way, but our defense kept us in the game. In the last eight minutes, we found a way to get it done. It wasn’t pretty, but this was a big step for us to get a conference win on the road. The guys showed maturity when facing adversity.”
Sophomore reserve James Wohrley (Dixon, Ill./ Dixon) led the Rams in scoring with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and also grabbed six rebounds. Larson finished with 11 points, followed by LaDew with 10. Chris Handke (Bellevue/Bellevue) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds in only 19 minutes of work.
IIAC leaders – The 6-foot-9 Wohrley leads the conference in field goal percentage, hitting 9-of-11 shots for an 81.8 percent clip. Junior guard Michael Tierney (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) is No. 1 in free throw percentage, making 13-of-14 attempts (92.9 %). Cornell also leads the IIAC in team free throw percentage at 78.3 percent (47-of-60).
Statistically balanced – The Rams have scored 270 points (67.5 ppg) and also allowed 270 through four games. Cornell and its opponents have each turned the ball over 57 times. Cornell’s defense has been better of late, allowing an average of 47 points over its last two games.
|
