CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Coe College men's basketball team picked up its second victory of the season over rival Cornell on Wednesday evening, defeating the Rams 83-78 at Kohawk Arena. The teams battled back and forth in the opening half but Coe held a 47-46 advantage at the break after shooting 51.4 percent from the floor. Cornell battled back early in the second half and took a four-point lead but the Kohawks outscored the Rams 28-18 over the final 15 minutes of the game to secure the victory. The result moves Coe to 10-2 on the season while Cornell drops to 6-4 overall.
Jarad Kruse, Coe's leading scorer entering the game, continued his solid campaign, scoring 18 points while adding seven rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Cael Schmitt was second on the team with 16 points as the sophomore was 5-of-11 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line as he also added four assists and one board. Senior forward
Jacob Robertson reached double-figures for the first time in three games, tallying 12 points and six rebounds while going 4-of-6 from the floor.
Ray Thrapp and
Sam Auen also posted double-digits in the game, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively as Auen was 2-of-3 from deep.
COE 83 - CORNELL 75
Game Facts
- Cornell opened the game's scoring with a 3 just 24 seconds into the game but Coe grabbed control of the contest, scoring the next eight points including a pair of layups from Ray Thrapp. The Rams snapped the scoreless run with another 3 to make it 8-6 but the Kohawks hit a pair of long balls to quickly push the lead to six points. The Rams fought back with four straight from Jordan Magnani as he cut the deficit to just one point with 14:33 left in the half.
- Coe then ripped off an 8-0 run over the next 1:40, getting a pair of buckets from Kruse and an old-fashioned 3-point play from TJ Schnurr as the pair gave Coe a 22-13 advantage with just under 13 minutes remaining. The Rams refused to go away, outscoring the Kohawks 9-2 over a four-minute span to slash the deficit to two points with less than nine minutes to play in the first.
- Coe again tried to pull away, using a 9-4 run to grab a 33-26 lead but Cornell answered with a 12- 5 spurt to tie the game at 38 with under four minutes left in the opening period. The squads went back and forth over the final few moments of the half but Coe narrowly outscored Cornell to grab a 47-46 lead at the break.
- The visitors were on fire to open the half, outscoring the hosts 9-4 in the first four-plus minutes to take a 55-51 advantage. Coe showed no panic despite Cornell's hot start to the half, scoring eight of the next nine points to flip the script and regain a 59-56 advantage. The teams exchanged blows for the next few minutes as Coe held the slim lead until the Kohawks ripped off an 11-2 run giving them a 72-62 lead with 5:08 to play. During the stretch, John Steffen and Cael Schmitt scored four points each while Schnurr added three.
- The Rams stayed tough despite their largest deficit of the game, outscoring Coe 7-0 over the next minute-plus to slice the Kohawks lead to three with 3:35 remaining. The Kohawks stayed calm during the run and responded with six straight as Kruse and Schmitt combined to push the lead back to nine points with 1:43 to play. Cornell continued to scrap over the final minute-plus, getting two late buckets including a 3 but Coe converted on some game-icing free throws to secure the victory.
Up next: Coe will return to the floor on December 22 when it hosts Millikin at Kohawk Arena at 4:00 PM.
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