MT. VERNON, Iowa – The Illinois College men's basketball team won its fourth straight contest, stopping Cornell, 73-70, in a key Midwest Conference game on Tuesday at the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
With the victory, IC improved to 14-5 overall and 7-3 in conference play. Cornell moved to 12-6 and 6-3.
IC 73 Cornell 70
The Blueboys got off to a fast start and controlled the first half. IC never trailed and grew the lead to as much as 14 (25-11) with 9:48 remaining. IC took a 33-27 lead into halftime.
In the second period, IC pushed the advantage back to 11 nearly three minutes into play but the Rams then made their run. Cornell tied the contest with 13:06 to go and took its first lead at 52-50 with 9:58 left.Â
The Rams continued to increase their advantage, leading 57-50 with 9:06 to go before the Blueboys answered with a 7-0 run to tie the game. The lead see-sawed for the next five minutes and, with the score tied at 64, IC took the lead for good on a layup by
Ty Lenhardt with 2:29 left. Lenhardt had four points in the final 2:29 of the game to go along with key free throws by
Javonte McKenzie,
Buzz Ritzel, and
Seth Doss to close out the victory.
Ritzel led the IC attack with 21 points. Doss had 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Lenhardt added 17 points and seven boards.
Jaylen Swinney came off the bench to grab seven rebounds as well.
Blue Notes
The win was IC's fourth straight and seventh in its last eight outings… tonight's win was the 99th victory in the career of IC head coach
Steve Schweer… the Blueboys have won 46 of their last 56 games and 63 of the past 73… IC has also won 35 of its previous 42 Midwest Conference contests.
Up Next
IC will continue its two-game road swing through Iowa as it travels to Grinnell on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. Midwest Conference contest.
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