MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's men's basketball team rallied from seven points down in the final 76 seconds of regulation and prevailed 84-79 in a Midwest Conference overtime cooker over Lawrence Saturday inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
The late comeback vaulted the Rams (6-10 overall, 4-3 MWC) into a third-place tie with Lake Forest with still nine MWC games to go. The young and talented Vikings dipped to 6-11 overall, 3-5 in the MWC.
 
Cornell's Jordan Magnani enjoyed another exceptional game, netting a game-high 23 points while playing all 45 minutes in an entertaining battle that featured 15 ties and 21 lead changes. The fifth-year guard entered triple-double territory with eight rebounds and seven assists, to go along with three steals.
 
Magnani's drive to the rim tied it at 70-70 with four seconds left in regulation, capping a 7-0 Cornell spurt. A Jayden Meeker free throw and buckets by Izic Mackey and Zach Ingle preceded Magnani's shot the forced overtime.
 
Meeker drained a 3-pointer that put the Rams ahead to stay at 79-76 with 1:00 remaining in the overtime. Mackey and Ingle converted back-to-back field goals in the final 23 seconds to seal the victory.
 
The Rams held an 11-point advantage from the foul line, hitting 18-of-22 free throws. Magnani buried all eight of his free throw attempts after intermission.  
 
Meeker registered his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Ingle finished with 15 points. The Rams received a boost off the bench from Mackey (14 points, five rebounds) and Jeremy Durdan (eight points, seven rebounds).
 
The Rams survived 14 3-point goals from the Vikings, who shot a torrid 51.9 percent from beyond the arc. Reserve Nick Hesch paced Lawrence with 20 points, going 6-of-6 from long range.   
 
Coming up – Cornell travels to play Monmouth (10-6 overall, 6-1 MWC) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Monmouth, Ill.