MOUNT VERNON – 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.
 
Cornell won't play another home game until Jan. 3. The Rams begin their road swing Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. matchup against in-state rival Grinnell.