Lott goes for 24 points in 69-66 road loss to Buena Vista

Cornell's string of hard-luck losses continued Saturday night as the Rams dropped a tightly-contested 69-66 Iowa Conference battle on the road to Buena Vista.

The Rams (6-12 overall, 1-8 IIAC), seeking their first-ever IIAC win in Storm Lake, went back and forth with the Beavers from the opening tip in a game that witnessed 16 lead changes and seven ties. Neither team led by more than five points.

It was the Beavers who hung on behind clutch free throw shooting down the stretch. Leading by a point with 1:36 to play, Buena Vista (8-10, 5-4 IIAC) made 11 of 12 foul shots – including its last nine – to hand the Rams their third consecutive loss that went down to the wire.

Cornell fell by a point at home to rival Coe Jan. 17. The Rams were in a two-possession game in the final minute of a 77-70 loss at defending IIAC champion Central Jan. 15. Seven of Cornell's losses this season have come by seven points or less.

“I feel that we've played pretty well, particularly the last two games,” Cornell head coach Chad Murray said. “Our guys played hard, were good defensively and executed our game plan. We just made a few too many mental mistakes to win these games.”

Senior J. Ryan Lott (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) tossed in a game-high 24 points against the Beavers, 19 coming after intermission. His 3-pointer pulled the Rams to within 67-66 with four seconds remaining. Following a Cornell timeout and foul, Buena Vista hit two free throws to seal the win.

Lott went 10-of-12 from the foul line and also contributed four rebounds and three assists. Freshman Reggie Greenwood (Berkeley, Ill./Timothy Christian) finished with 11 points. Rory Cotter (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) and Alex Miller (Mesa, Ariz./Westwood) had eight points apiece.

The Rams stayed close by hitting 18-of-22 free throws and holding Buena Vista to 40.4 percent shooting. The Beavers owned a 39-25 advantage on the boards. Cornell led 27-26 at halftime.

Buena Vista swept the regular-season series from the Rams, also taking an 80-76 win in Mount Vernon.

Second time around – Cornell looks to avenge its most lopsided IIAC loss Wednesday against Dubuque, and earn a season sweep over Wartburg Saturday.

The Rams dropped an 84-57 decision at Dubuque in early December. Cornell got past Wartburg, 72-71, in the IIAC opener Dec. 1, 2010. The Rams have won seven of the last eight meetings with Wartburg, which also stands 1-8 in league play.

Scoring leader – Lott went over 900 career points Saturday at Buena Vista, now standing at 914 with seven games left in the regular season. The 6-foot shooting guard is averaging an IIAC-best 18.6 points per game this season and ranks 22nd on Cornell's all-time scoring list.