JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Cornell's men's basketball team earned a return trip to the Midwest Conference Tournament championship game, and left no doubt about it with Friday's 70-48 semifinal rout of Monmouth inside Sherman Gymnasium.
 
The No. 2 seed Rams (15-11) played styling defense in a contest they never trailed in beating the No. 3 seed Fighting Scots (14-12) for the third time this season.
 
Cornell, the 2022 MWC Tournament champion, moves into Saturday's anticipated title tilt at 3 p.m. against No. 1 seed and host Illinois College (24-2) for the MWC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The record-setting Blueboys prevailed in a 72-66 battle with Ripon.
 
The Rams roll into the championship having won 11 of their last 12 games. Illinois College has lost just once since mid-November, a 64-56 setback to Cornell more than four weeks ago in Mount Vernon.  
 
The Rams were off and running from the opening tip against Monmouth. Zach Ingle drained a 3-pointer on Cornell's initial possession, fueling a 20-4 scoring spree to begin the game.
 
Monmouth did not record its second made field goal until the 10:19 mark of the first half. Cornell limited the Fighting Scots to 27.1-percent shooting on the night and dominated the boards by a 47-32 margin.
 
Cornell's lead ballooned to 31 points with 5:21 left in regulation.
 
Ingle earned game-high scoring honors with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor. Jeremy Durdan contributed 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Logan Sharp pitched in 10 points, while Jayden Meeker led all players with eight rebounds.
 
Jordan Magnani tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. The MWC Player of the Year increased his career scoring total to 1,639 points, only eight short of Cooper Kabela's all-time record.   
 
The Rams had 20 players see court time. They shot 45.5 percent from the field and held a convincing 36-16 advantage in points scored in the paint.