RIPON, Wis. – The Rams' hot shooting traveled with them to Ripon Tuesday night and Cornell held on late to claim a 76-74 Midwest Conference men's basketball win inside Weiske Gymnasium.
Four days after sinking a school-record 22 3-pointers, Cornell (5-17 overall, 4-9 MWC) connected on 13-of-26 shots from long range and earned its first series road win over the Red Hawks (4-19 overall, 4-10 MWC) since 2022.
The Rams led 76-69 with 62 seconds left, although needed a late defensive stand to stave off the Red Hawks. Ripon cut the margin to 76-74 and had two cracks to win it with 3-pointers that were off the mark in the final four seconds.
Freshman
Luke Hellige paced Cornell's balanced attack with a career-high 14 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting, highlighted by four 3-point goals.
Keon Talgo and
Caleb Leslie both knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Freshman guard
Kylen Bonner filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Max Markgraf netted nine points, while
Jude Weaver contributed six assists and five rebounds.
The Rams shot 54.2 percent from the field and went 11-of-14 from the foul line. Cornell won the battle on the boards, 27-22.
Coming up – Cornell plays host to Beloit (5-17 overall, 0-13 MWC) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Small Athletic and Wellness Center. The Rams rolled in the first meeting, 83-53.
