No. 11 Men's Basketball falls to No. 1 IWU 83-78

Box Score

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – In the second game of the WHAC/Crossroads League Challenge, it was the No. 1 ranked Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats that had just a little more on Saturday as they downed No. 11 Cornerstone 83-78. The loss is the first of the year for CU as they fall to 3-1 while the Wildcats improve to 5-0. Cornerstone will get back on the court next Saturday in their WHAC opener at Madonna at 3 p.m.

Game Flow
For the second straight night, the No. 11 Cornerstone Men's Basketball team faced an NAIA Top-10 foe but this time it took a 35-point individual effort from their opponent to down the Golden Eagles 83-78. In a game that neither team led by more than seven points, Indiana Wesleyan took a 4-point (42-38) lead into the locker room at halftime.

CU then scored seven of the first nine points in the second half to lead 45-44 and it was a back and forth affair for the final 16 minutes of play. In a tie game with just under one minute to play, Jonny Marlin (who had a game high 35 points), hit a fade away three-pointer with the shot clock expiring to give the Wildcats a 77-74 lead.

Cornerstone came back with a 3-point attempt from Cory Cox (SO/Flushing, Mich.) as the sophomore was fouled but made just 2-3 from the charity stripe and CU was forced to foul with the Wildcats making their free-throws to ice the game.

Say What?
"I'm proud of our players for battling hard for 40 minutes. We put ourselves in a great position to win the game but Indiana Wesleyan just made more plays down the stretch than we did. This game will only make us better" – Head coach Kim Elders

By the Numbers
.531 – Cornerstone outshot the Wildcats .531 to .409 (CU was 25-47 from the field)

17 to 3 – Offensive rebounds – Indiana Wesleyan pulled down 17 offensive boards compared to just 3 for CU

19 – Season high points for sophomore Cory Cox – CU has had three different leading scorers in their four contests

6 – Rebounding leader Travis Wells (JR/Eaton Rapids, Mich.) for Cornerstone

5 – double-figure scorers for Cornerstone – Cory Cox (19), Travis Wells (16), Ben Lanning (JR/Grandville, Mich.) (15), Michael McLaughlin (SO/Grand Rapids, Mich.) (15), Kyle Steigenga (FR/Holland, Mich.) (11)

Up Next
Cornerstone will begin defense of their WHAC regular season crown on Saturday, November 15 in Livonia when they face Madonna at 3 p.m.

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