JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Cornell's men's basketball team took on a big road test Wednesday night and left Sherman Gymnasium with its first Midwest Conference loss, 79-69, to Illinois College.
 
The Rams (10-5 overall) dropped their first game since Dec. 15, although remain atop the MWC standings at 5-1 with still 10 league contests remaining. Cornell split the season series with Illinois College, which moved to 9-7 overall, 5-3 in the MWC.
 
Cornell has another pivotal road game ahead Saturday against second-place Ripon (10-6 overall, 6-2 MWC). Tipoff is 1 p.m. in Ripon, Wis.
 
Senior forward Cooper Kabela kept the Rams relatively close with a fine 23-point performance, which included an 11-of-14 touch from the foul line. He became the fourth player in Cornell history to eclipse 1,400 points in a career, now with 1,413.
 
The Rams trailed the final 30 minutes of this game and had no answer for Illinois College's hot-shooting lefty Tre Rogers, who went off for 39 points, going 7-of-9 from 3-point range.
 
Cornell hung around and got within 56-52 with 7:16 remaining thanks to a personal 6-0 run by Kabela. The Blueboys responded in the form of Rogers, who hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to stretch the lead back to 10 points.
 
Cornell's leading scorer Jordan Magnani, saddled with foul trouble in the first half, finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Magnani is now just 18 points shy of 1,000 for his career.  
 
Marcus Quirk netted 12 points, Logan Sharp 11. Kabela led the Rams with nine rebounds, followed by Logan Christensen with six.