MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The Cornell College men’s basketball team scored 10 straight points late in the game Saturday to surge ahead and held on for a 73-69 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University at the Multi-Sport Center.
Lawrence star Jamie Nikitas poured in a game-high 33 points, his sixth 30-plus point game of the season, to lead the Vikings (5-9, 2-7 MWC). Nikitas also finished with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Jeremy Stephani added 11 points for the Vikings.
Craig Engle led Cornell (5-9, 3-6) with 20 points, and Grant Anderson and Corey Davis added 16 points apiece. Anderson also pulled down a game-high 18 rebounds.
Lawrence led by as many eight points early in the second half, and the Rams chipped away at the lead. Mitch Willer’s jumper gave Lawrence a 53-50 lead with 5:37 remaining, but Cornell went on a 10-0 run, capped by Davis’ layup with 3:07 left, to take a 60-53 advantage.
The Rams led by five when Stephani hit a 3-pointer to trim the margin to 66-64 with 32 seconds left. The Vikings fouled Davis, who made one free throw but missed the second with 24 seconds left. Lawrence grabbed the rebound, but Cody Carter intercepted the outlet pass for the Rams.
The Vikings were forced to foul, and Cornell hit six consecutive free throws in the final 17 seconds to seal the victory.
Lawrence started slowly and trailed 17-7 just eight minutes into the game. The Vikings were still down 26-18 when Ben Peterson started the rally with a 3-pointer.
The Vikings went on a 17-5 run over the final 5:26 of the first half, capped by a Nikitas 3-pointer at the buzzer, to give Lawrence a 35-31 lead at the break. Nikitas scored seven points in the run and Troy Miller added six on a pair of 3-pointers.