WAVERLY – Cornell's men's basketball team staged a valiant second-half comeback, although was denied 85-74 against Wartburg in the Rams' long-awaited return to competition Tuesday night inside Levick Arena.

The Rams (0-1) played their first game in nearly 11 months, and it showed early in the form of a 24-point first-half deficit. Cornell rallied for 47 points after intermission before running out of time in the season-opening road loss.

Senior forward Cooper Kabela (SR/West Branch, Iowa) had an impressive 2021 debut, netting a game-high 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go with seven rebounds. The all-conference performer vaulted four spots on Cornell's career scoring list with 1,040 points, standing 16th all-time.     

Marcus Quirk (JR/Edinburgh, Scotland) drained five 3-point goals and finished with 22 points and six boards. Jordan Magnani (JR/Mount Pleasant, Iowa) delivered 15 points and seven assists. Logan Sharp (SO/Des Moines, Iowa) added six points and seven rebounds.

Wartburg (2-3) sank seven 3-pointers in the first half and built a 49-25 advantage with 1:10 left before intermission.

Cornell found its offensive rhythm on 51.5-percent shooting in the second half. The Rams trimmed the margin to 10 points by the 13-minute mark and got within 74-69 on a Kabela 3-point bucket with 5:35 remaining. The Knights then pulled away with a 9-2 spurt down the stretch.

The Rams finished with 12 3-point goals in the game, including 8-of-16 shooting in the second half.

Wartburg owned a 10-point advantage from the foul line, hitting 16-of-21 free throws. Cornell went 6-of-12.

Coming up – The Rams are back in action Feb. 6 against Iowa Wesleyan in Mount Pleasant.