EUREKA, Ill. – Cornell's men's basketball team had a double-digit lead melt away down the stretch and dropped a tough 71-70 road game to Eureka Thursday night.

It was the second straight narrow loss for the Rams (3-5), who fell on a last-second shot to Illinois College Sunday.

Cornell appeared to have this game under control when a Logan Sharp (SO/Des Moines, Iowa) bucket put the Rams ahead 68-57 with 3:28 left in regulation. The Red Devils rallied to score 14 of the game's final 16 points, avenging a 96-71 loss to the Rams only 10 days ago.

After Eureka ran off 11 straight points to tie it, Cooper Kabela (SR/West Branch, Iowa) put the Rams back ahead at 70-68 with an offensive rebound and drive to the bucket with 28 seconds remaining.

Eureka answered with a conventional 3-point play, taking its first lead of the half at 71-70 with 16 seconds left.

Kabela, who led all scorers with 20 points, came up short on a tough contested shot in the lane just before the final horn sounded.

Marcus Quirk (JR/Edinburgh, Scotland) and Jordan Magnani (JR/Mount Pleasant, Iowa) also reached double figures scoring for the Rams with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Sharp had a strong game in the paint with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Quirk grabbed seven rebounds, followed by Kabela and Logan Christensen (FR/Bloomington, Ill.) with five apiece. Clayton Leipold (JR/Bloomington, Ill.) hit a pair of threes and finished with eight points in a starting role.

Coming up – The Rams return to the court March 27 for a 1 p.m. contest with Midwest Conference foe Knox in Galesburg, Ill.