APPLETON, Wis. -- The No. 19 Lawrence University men's basketball team broke open a close game with hot second-half shooting and went on to an 80-66 nonconference win over Cornell College on Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.
Lawrence (2-1) hit on 16 of 29 shots (55.2 percent) in the second half, and that included 9 of 15 shooting (60 percent) from 3-point range. Ryan Kroeger paced Lawrence with 23 points, and he was 8 of 12 from the floor, including 7 of 9 from 3-point range.
John Dekker added 14 points, and Jayce Apelgren and Doug Kadison had 12 points apiece. Kadison also handed out a game-high seven assists, which was one more than the entire Cornell squad.
Michael Tierney paced Cornell (2-1) with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds. Griffin LaDew paced the Rams with 13 points, and Chris Handke added 12.
The game was tied 34-34 early in the second half when the Vikings took over. Lawrence scored the game's next 16 points to grab a 50-34 edge with 13:53 remaining. Lawrence went 7-for-9 from the floor during that stretch and hit 3 of 4 shots from beyond the arc.
The Rams never got closer than 14 points after that, and Lawrence stretched the lead to as many as 23 points.
Lawrence returns to action on Nov. 26 when it travels to Marian University.