The second-half surge of the Cornell men’s basketball team led by senior Zach Ingle’s 22 points was not enough in Saturday’s 63-59 Midwest Conference loss to Lake Forest at the Sports and Recreation Center.
A Dylan Hurley layup with less than four minutes left to play in the second half tied the game at 53-53 after the Rams (2-6, 0-2 MWC) used the second half to shatter the Foresters’ big lead that was 19 points.
With two-point buckets from Jaxson Herring and Hurley, the Rams saw themselves within two points at 59-57 with 1:04 remaining.
Two Lake Forest (3-5, 1-2 MWC) free throws had the Rams down four at 61-57, but Connor Barnett drove into the paint and hit a pull-up jumper with 39 seconds left to bring the Rams back within 61-59.
A missed layup and offensive rebound by the Foresters spelled the end of Cornell’s comeback, as they converted both free throws to go up 63-59 with eight seconds left in regulation. Ingle had an opportunity at a three-point attempt with a few seconds remaining but it rimmed out to conclude the night.
Ingle led all scorers with a season-high 22 points, shooting 9-of-19 from the field and 4-of-12 from three-point range. He was tremendous on both sides of the ball as he also finished with seven rebounds, three assists, and four steals.
The Rams held the Foresters to 28.6-percent shooting and 1-of-10 from three-point range (10.0) in a strong second half that propelled Cornell back into the game. .
Hurley finished with 10 points and four assists. Herring had eight points and seven rebounds.
Alex Knight finished with 20 points for the Foresters.