Falcons Complete Comeback Against Cornell

WAVERLY, Iowa – The CUW men's basketball team finished up their weekend road trip to Waverly, Iowa on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against Cornell.

The contest was back and forth all day with 16 ties and 20 lead changes.

The Rams edged out the Falcons in the first half with a score of 41-39. The half saw junior Freeman Jackson with a team-high 11 points and senior Gabe Pruss (North Fond Du Lac, Wis.) not far behind with 10. The half ended with a Cornell bucket which put the Rams ahead by two heading into the first break.

The Blue and White tied it up at 41 out of the gate in the second half off a layup from Jackson, but Cornell kept clawing back and forth with the birds.

The Falcons saw their largest lead with eight and a half minutes left in the game after a 16-6 run by the Falcons which saw back-to-back-to-back-to-back baskets from Jackson including two three-pointers.

The Rams inched their way back throughout the rest of the half until the Falcons were up three points with 19 seconds left. The Rams sunk a three-point basket with 10 seconds remaining to knot it up at 84 and send it into overtime.

Cornell saw their largest lead of the game with 35 seconds left in overtime and a five-point lead.

Sophomore Zach Leahy (West Dundee, Ill) came in clutch with ice in his veins after draining a three-point basket for his only points of the game when it mattered most.

A pair of terribly timed missed free throws by the Rams led to a pair of sunk free throws from Pruss to knot things at 94 and send the game into double overtime.

Pruss and Jackson owned the final frame for the Falcons with Jackson scoring six of the 11 Falcon points and Pruss scoring the other five in the overtime period.

Jackson ended with a game-high 36 points while also recording three boards, three assists, and four steals. 

Pruss put up a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Freshman Jack Fritz (Columbus, Wis.) led the Blue and White off the bench with five points and two rebounds.

"This was a big win for us," said head coach Shawn Cassidy.  "We have a bunch of relatively inexperienced players who have learned a lot from this weekend.  We fought through some mistakes and adversity and found a way to win."

The Falcons eye St. Norbert on Tuesday for their second NACC matchup as well as their second inside the R John Buuck Fieldhouse.