JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – A game of many momentum swings and lead changes ended in Illinois College's favor Sunday night as Cornell dropped an 85-79 men's basketball decision to the host Blueboys in Sherman Gymnasium.

Cornell senior Cooper Kabela (SR/West Branch, Iowa) capped a terrific 27-point night with a free throw that put the Rams ahead 77-76 with 1:30 left in regulation. Illinois College countered with a 3-point bucket on the ensuing possession and held the lead the rest of the way during a game-ending 9-2 surge.  

The Rams (2-2) pulled within 81-79 on a pair of free throws by Jordan Magnani (JR/Mount Pleasant, Iowa) with 18 seconds to go. The Blueboys (1-1) then made 4-of-4 free throw attempts to provide the final margin.

Kabela shot a sizzling 10-of-14 from the field and drained all four of his 3-point attempts. He climbed to 13th place on Cornell's career scoring list with 1,100 points.   

Junior Marcus Quirk (JR/Edinburgh, Scotland) continued his impressive play with his third consecutive double-double, totaling 15 points and 13 rebounds. Magnani netted 11 points and dished a team-high five assists.

Logan Sharp (SO/Des Moines, Iowa) grabbed nine rebounds and Clayton Leipold (JR/Bloomington, Ill.) added eight points off the bench for the Rams.

The Rams came out firing early, shooting 68.0 percent from the floor (17-of-25) in the opening 20 minutes for a 44-39 lead at intermission. Cornell built its biggest lead at 62-54 on a Logan Sharp bucket with 11:20 remaining.

The nonconference battle between Midwest Conference teams witnessed nine ties and 10 lead changes.

Jake Mazrimas and Troy Burrows scored 20 and 19 points, respectively, to pace the Blueboys.

Coming up – The Rams get another shot at Illinois College in a March 7 rematch at 2 p.m. in Mount Vernon.