Cornell’s men’s basketball team got tough in crunch time and grinded out a 74-69 overtime win over American Rivers Conference foe Simpson Monday night in the Small Sport Center.
The Rams (9-4) held Simpson to four points over the final 7:04 of the contest, earning a season sweep over the Storm (4-8) in a battle that was tight throughout.
Cornell’s Jordan Magnani tossed in a season-high 25 points, while Logan Christensen and Logan Sharp each delivered a key bucket in overtime to guide the Rams to their eighth win in the last nine games.
Magnani’s jumper in the paint tied it at 65-65 with 1:14 left in regulation. Simpson sharp-shooter Caden Rehmeier, who drained nine 3-pointers and finished with 31 points, came up empty on a 3-point try at the end of regulation, sending the game into an extra five-minute period.
The Rams scored the first seven points in overtime, started by a conventional 3-point play by Christensen. Sharp added a putback and Magnani sank two free throws that put Cornell ahead 72-65 with 24 seconds remaining.
The Storm trimmed the deficit to 72-69 before Magnani put the nail in the coffin with two more foul shots with eight seconds to go. Magnani netted 15 of his points after intermission and also posted six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 42 minutes.
Cooper Kabela buried four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, moving the fifth-year senior past Jeff Fleming (1983-87) and into fourth place on Cornell’s career scoring list with 1,382.
The Rams held a decisive 50-35 advantage on the boards. The 6-foot-1 Christensen played a lead role with a game-high 11 rebounds, 10 on the defensive end. Trevor Boge came off the bench to grab nine rebounds.
Cornell converted 12-of-14 free throws, led by Magnani’s 7-of-9 touch. Simpson, which led 34-27 at the half, shot 13-of-29 from 3-point range.