Athletics - Men's Basketball

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Coming up — Thursday, Dec. 20, Lakeland, Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon, 2 p.m.; Monday, Dec. 31, at The Citadel, Charleston, S.C., 4:05 p.m.

Ram review – Cornell (3-5 overall, 1-0 Iowa Conference) endured a frustrating week on the hardwood, going 0-2 with road losses to nationally-ranked Augustana (69-56) Dec. 12 in Rock Island, Ill., and Faith Baptist (83-80) Dec. 14 in Ankeny. The Rams led No. 9 Augustana with 13 minutes remaining in regulation and led Faith Baptist with less than four minutes to play.

“This was a tough week for our program,” Cornell head coach Mike DeGeorge said. “We will learn a great deal about our character based on how we respond. It isn’t that we lost these two games, but how we lost them. We need to focus on what we need to improve on and we need to get healthy. If we can do both of those things, we will look back on this week as a turning point in our season.”

Faith Baptist 83, Cornell 80 (Dec. 14)
Cornell junior guard Griffin LaDew (Pewaukee, Wis./Waukesha Catholic Memorial) tossed in a career-high 31 points, but the Rams squandered a lead down the stretch and dropped their third consecutive game.

Cornell overcame a 10-point deficit early in the second half and held a 65-59 lead with eight minutes remaining. A bucket by Ryan Walden (Edina, Minn./ Edina) put the Rams ahead 72-71 with 3:30 left, proving to be Cornell’s last lead of the game.

LaDew continued his recent tear, hitting 11-of-16 shots from the field and 4-of-7 from long range. He also pulled down eight rebounds in 34 minutes of work. Freshman reserve Joe Newcomb ( Salem, Ind./Eastern) was the lone other Ram to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with 14 points behind 7-of-11 shooting. Walden chipped in eight points, eight rebounds and four assists.

The Rams shot 48.4 percent from the floor and outrebounded the hosts, 41-28. The difference was at the foul line, where Faith Baptist (6-4) hit 19-of-25 free throws compared to 10-of-12 for the Rams.

No. 9 Augustana 69, Cornell 56 (Dec. 12)
The Rams battled tough with Division III’s ninth-ranked team for 37 minutes before faltering late in a nonconference loss.

Cornell had an upset brewing in the second half when a Walden jumper gave the Rams a 49-47 lead with less than 13 minutes left to play. The Rams hung around and trailed 60-56 with 3:11 to go, but Augustana pulled away with a 9-0 spurt to finish the game.

LaDew netted a game-high 18 points and hit four 3-point goals. Walden tallied 13 points and Tyler Cody (Roberts, Wis./St. Croix Central) added 10. Sophomore Chris Handke (Bellevue/Bellevue) paced the Rams on the boards with eight rebounds.

The Rams turned the ball over 21 times to Augustana’s 10. The Vikings (8-1) held a 37-30 edge in rebounds.

Outshooting the opponent – Cornell has outshot its last six opponents percentage-wise from the field, but is 3-3 over the stretch. The Rams are shooting 46.7 percent from the floor this season, second in the Iowa Conference. Cornell’s opponents are shooting 42.3 percent for the year.

Climbing the IIAC ranks – LaDew ranks third in the league in 3-point field goals made per game (2.75), fifth in scoring (16.1 ppg), fifth in steals (1.75 spg) and seventh in field goal percentage (51.6). He is averaging 24.5 points over his last four games, and shooting 19-of-32 from 3-point range during the hot stretch.

“Griffin had another great week for us,” DeGeorge said. “He seems to be getting past several nagging injuries.”