MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's Zach Ingle and Dylan Hurley combined for 41 points as the short-handed Rams dropped a 100-70 men's basketball decision to visiting Simpson Saturday night inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
The Storm (3-3) tallied the game's first 10 points and shot 58.3 percent from the field in the wire-to-wire victory over the Rams (2-4), who played without all-conference guard Jayden Meeker.
 
Ingle and Hurley helped pick up the scoring load, netting 21 and 20 points, respectively. Ingle buried five 3-point goals and grabbed four rebounds. Hurley, a junior transfer, had his best offensive night as a Ram, connecting on 7-of-13 field goals to go with three assists and two steals.   
 
Connor Barnett contributed seven points and a team-high five rebounds for Cornell, which was outscored in the paint, 52-26. Simpson held a 42-29 advantage on the boards.
 
After trailing by 18 points at intermission, back-to-back buckets by Julian Cleary and Ingle pulled the Rams within 54-41 two minutes into the second half. The Storm responded with a 15-2 run over the next four minutes to regain control.  
 
Andrew Gibb paced four Simpson players in double figures scoring with 27 points.
 
Coming up – The Rams open Midwest Conference play at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday with a big home matchup against preseason favorite Illinois College (5-0), which defeated Cornell in the 2023 MWC championship game, 70-61.
 
Cornell is picked second in the MWC Preseason Coaches' Poll.