MOUNT VERNON, Iowa -- The Cornell College men's basketball team hung on for a 65-60 nonconference win over Lawrence University on Saturday night.
John Dekker led Lawrence and all scorers with 25 points, and Tyler Cullitan grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Matt Lewis and Chris Handke scored 15 points apiece for Cornell (2-0), and the 6-foot-10 Handke had a game-high 12 rebounds.
Lawrence (1-2) had its second straight night of frigid shooting with the Vikings hitting only 32.7 percent (17-52) of its shots from the floor.
Despite the cold shooting, Lawrence hung in the game by dominating from the foul line. The Vikings were 22 of 28 from the foul line while Cornell connected on only 11 of 23 from the stripe.
The Rams led by as many as nine points late in the contest before Lawrence rallied. Lawrence trailed by seven when Dekker and Tyler Crisman made four consecutive free throws to trim the margin to 62-59 with 1:29 left.
After a Cornell free throw, the Vikings missed a pair of 3-pointers and were forced to foul. J. Ryan Lott hit two free throws in the final 28 seconds to seal the win.
Lawrence is back in action on Sunday when it travels to Coe College.