Cornell’s men’s basketball team knocked off Lake Forest from the ranks of Midwest Conference unbeatens with a hard-fought 73-68 victory Saturday afternoon inside the Small Sport Center.
The Rams (4-3 overall) completed a strong opening week to league play, improving to 2-0 in the MWC. Cornell beat Illinois College, 82-75, on Tuesday.
Senior Jordan Magnani led all scorers with 20 points for the Rams, who made winning plays down the stretch with the game in the balance.
Lake Forest (3-7 overall, 2-1 MWC) rallied late and got within 65-63 with 2:02 left in regulation. Cornell answered with a 6-0 run, getting a bucket from Logan Sharp and Magnani, followed by two free throws from Magnani that stretched the margin to 71-63 with 20 seconds remaining.
The Rams stepped up defensively in crunch time, receiving a steal from Marcus Quirk and a pair of blocked shots on one possession from Trevor Boge. Boge came off the bench to score 11 points, highlighted by three 3-point goals.
Sophomore guard Logan Christensen gave the Rams a spark with 12 points and six rebounds. He drained four of Cornell’s 10 made 3-pointers. Quirk finished with 11 points and eight boards. Sharp had nine points and Cooper Kabela added seven rebounds.
The Rams limited the MWC’s No. 1 scorer Sean Espinosa to 17 points on 21 field goal attempts. Espinosa had scored 91 points in his previous three contests.
The Foresters shot just 40.8 percent from the floor and connected on only 5-of-26 attempts from 3-point range. Johnny Roeser totaled 17 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks for Lake Forest.
Earlier in the week, the Rams beat Illinois College 82-75.
The Rams (3-3 overall, 1-0 MWC) shot an even 50.0 percent from the field and never trailed in a matchup between teams projected to contend for the conference championship. Cornell was picked second in the MWC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, Illinois College (4-4 overall, 0-1 MWC) third.
Cornell, which dropped two tight games to the Blueboys last season, led by as many as 15 points in the first half and took a 37-26 advantage into the break. Illinois College got within five points on two occasions in the second half.
The Rams showed great offensive balance, led by senior Jordan Magnani and freshman Jayden Meeker who shared team-high honors with 17 points apiece. Magnani sank three 3-pointers and distributed seven assists to no turnovers. Meeker was a spark off the bench, netting 13 of his points in the second half.
Seniors Cooper Kabela and Marcus Quirk both tossed in 15 points and finished with nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Logan Christensen pitched in 10 points to go with three assists and three steals. Logan Sharp and Izic Mackey added five rebounds apiece.
The Rams held Illinois College to 41.0-percent shooting and scored 16 points off the guests’ 13 turnovers.
Cornell men pick up two home wins
December 9, 2021