COMEBACK BID FALLS SHORT AGAINST CORNERSTONE

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – In a matchup between two NAIA National Tournament hopefuls, a second-half comeback bid from the Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team fell short in a 73-66 setback to Cornerstone Saturday afternoon McHie Arena.

A sluggish start resulted in a first half to forget for the Purple and Yellow Gold. The Tigers converted on just eight of their 34 field goal attempts in the opening period, including a 3-of-11 clip from deep and a 2-for-6 performance from the free-throw line, resulting in just 21 points over the first 20 minutes.

This allowed Cornerstone (2-2), a team that was receiving votes in the preseason NAIA Coaches' Top-25 poll, to pull away to a 17-point advantage at the halftime break at 38-21.

The Tigers started to find their rhythm early in the second half thanks to back-to-back layups from Eli Edwards. A Caleb Swearingen 3-pointer cut the lead to 10 a few possessions later, and a pair of Caleb Corro free throws followed by a three-pointer Edwards knocked the deficit to single digits.

Trailing 55-46 with less than eight minutes remaining, ONU found some momentum when Corro knocked down three more free throws. He was quickly followed up by a transition three-pointer from Andrew Bennett that made it a one-possession game.

But that would be the closest the Tigers would get as the Golden Eagles found the baskets they needed to maintain their lead. Swearingen converted on an and-one opportunity to make it a four-point game with 32 seconds to play, but Cornerstone hit their free throws down the stretch to hold on to the win.

Corro and Edwards shared the team lead in scoring with 15 points each. Bennett went 3-for-4 from deep in contributing 11 points off the bench. Daniel Murphy and Luke Braman chipped in seven points each. Swearingen had six points.

Edwards led the team on the glass, narrowly missing out on a double-double with nine rebounds. Murphy dished out a team-high seven assists and hauled in five boards.

The Tigers will look to get in the win column with their conference-opener at St. Ambrose next Saturday.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu