Rams fall on buzzer-beater to Simpson in season finale

J. Ryan Lott (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley Northwest) hit the 1,000-point mark in his final collegiate game, although Cornell's season of close calls and bad breaks culminated Saturday with a 76-75 Iowa Conference road loss at the buzzer to Simpson.

Leading by a point with four seconds remaining, the Rams had the game taken away. Simpson's Zach Barragan received an inbounds pass near midcourt and drove in for a winning layup just before the final horn sounded.

It was Cornell's fourth one-point loss of the season, its 10th setback decided by seven points or less.

The Rams, who dropped a 67-57 home decision to Loras Wednesday, finished 8-17 overall and 3-13 in conference play. One of the team's league wins came at IIAC regular-season champion Luther (55-49) in early February.

“When you look at all those close games on film, there are a lot of little things we need to fix,” said Murray, whose young team featured just two upperclassmen. “We played in a lot of close games, but at the same time we have a long way to go. We need to be better defenders and be more mentally in tune to what we are trying to do. Championship teams don't beat themselves. We did some dumb things down the stretch.”

Lott capped a stellar career in fitting fashion, scoring 19 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to position the Rams for victory against Simpson. The senior shooting guard, who went 8-of-12 from the field, posted his 1,000th career point on a layup with 16:54 to go in the first half. Lott finished 18th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,020 points, totaling 795 in his final two seasons.

“J. Ryan took on the scoring load for us this season and really played well on Saturday when we absolutely needed him,” Murray said. “A 1,000-point scorer is always tough to replace.”

A 3-pointer by Josh Feldthouse (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) gave Cornell its largest lead at 53-45 with 12:30 remaining. After the 12th tie of the game, Lott hit a jumper that put the Rams ahead 75-73 with a minute to go. Simpson (11-14, 8-8 IIAC) made one free throw on its next possession, forced a Cornell turnover, and then won it on the final play.

“Our kids played their hearts out,” Murray said. “We've been out of the conference race the last three weeks, but our guys never gave up. That speaks of their character. I hope these experiences pay off in the long run.”

Alex Miller (Mesa, Ariz./Westwood) finished with 15 points and five rebounds for Cornell, which shot 48.3 percent for the game. Reggie Greenwood (Berkeley, Ill./Timothy Christian) and Joe Newcomb (Salem, Ind./Eastern) added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Rams had their hands full on Senior Night against a hot Loras squad, which shot 50.9 percent from the floor and had five players score in double figures. Cornell was within three points at intermission, but the Duhawks (11-14, 8-8 IIAC) took control with an 11-2 spurt early in the second half.

Sophomore forward Rory Cotter (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights) led the Rams with his first career double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Miller chipped in 15 points and five rebounds. Lott had 11 points and Greenwood added 10 points and five assists.

Senior duo – Lott and Newcomb, both fourth-year letterwinners, were recognized prior to their final home game against Loras. The two seniors combined for 81 starts and 209 games played over the last four seasons. Both were key figures in the team's run to the NCAA Tournament in 2008-09.

Lott closed his career with 1,020 points, 283 rebounds, 238 assists, 145 steals and 85 3-point goals. Newcomb totaled 555 points and 311 rebounds.

“Those two stuck with me and this program,” Murray said. “I'm deeply grateful to those two kids. They will both go on to do great things.”

Rams in the rankings – Lott and Greenwood finished the regular season among the league leaders in several statistical categories.

Lott finished third in scoring (17.6 ppg), a shade behind Wartburg's Cole Danielson and Jordan Sathoff at 17.7. He led the IIAC in minutes played (35.44 mpg) and was second in steals (2.00 spg) and fourth in assists (3.72 apg).

Greenwood closed a fine rookie campaign atop the IIAC in 3-point percentage (46.8), second in assists (3.92 apg), third in assist-turnover ratio (1.44), third in minutes played (33.64 mpg) and fourth in steals (1.48 spg).

Cornell ranked second in 3-point percentage (38.0) and was third in free throw percentage (72.6).

A look ahead – The future is promising for Murray's Rams, who had seven underclassmen play at least 20 games this season. Cornell will bring back three starters in sophomores Miller (11.1 ppg) and Cotter (9.5 ppg) and freshman Greenwood (10.2 ppg).

The Rams will likely enter the 2011-12 season without a senior on their roster.