MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's men's basketball team competed to the end with first-place Grinnell before a large Senior Day crowd in Saturday's 88-75 setback at the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
The Pioneers (20-3 overall, 15-1 MWC) withstood a Cornell charge midway through the second half and captured the MWC regular-season title outright, coupled with Monmouth's one-point loss at Illinois College.
 
Cornell finished the campaign at 6-19 overall, 5-11 in the MWC with an extremely young squad that featured four freshmen in Saturday's starting lineup.
 
The Rams showed marked progress during the stretch run and limited fast-paced Grinnell to its lowest scoring total since mid-January – 17 points under its season average.
 
Caleb Leslie – the team's lone senior starter – finished his two-year Cornell career with 12 points and four 3-point goals. His 65 made 3-pointers are fifth-most in a season by a Ram.
 
The Rams matched Grinnell's 3-point shooting, going 15-of-36 from long range for a 41.7-percent clip. Wayne Jurica and Luke Hellige both hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Senior Nate Jacobson drained Cornell's final 3-pointer of the game – in front of the Rams' bench – on his last collegiate shot with 36 seconds remaining.
 
The Rams, who trailed 49-38 at halftime, pulled as close as 71-67 on a Jurica 3-pointer with 8:12 left in regulation. Grinnell responded with an 8-0 run to regain control.
 
Garrett Hempen was a spark off Cornell's bench with 11 points, as was Noah Williams with seven points and nine rebounds. Freshman Kylen Bonner tallied seven points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Jurica added seven rebounds.
 
Grinnell hurried the Rams into 27 turnovers and received a game-high 26 points from Zach Rosen, who went 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.