MOUNT VERNON, Iowa -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team drained 14 3-pointers Saturday and grabbed a key 85-77 Midwest Conference victory at Cornell College.
    The Vikings stayed in the race for a Midwest Conference Tournament berth with the victory over the Rams at the Small Sport Center. Lawrence is 7-6 in the league and just a half-game out of fourth place with three games left.
    Brad Sendell poured in 29 points and topped 1,500 points for his Lawrence career. Sendell went 9-for-18 from the floor and moved his career total to 1,522, just 15 points behind Ryan Kroeger, who ranks third on the career list with 1,537. He also handed out a career-high 10 assists to notch his first double-double of the season.
    Lawrence's Matthew Kaznikov was hot from beyond the 3-point line as he scored a career-high 27 points. Kaznikov went 10-for-17 from the floor, including 7-for-11 on 3-pointers. Kyle Lillwitz also was deadly from long range for the Vikings as he scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Adnan Sarancic added eight points and six rebounds for the Vikings.
    Lawrence (10-12, 7-6 MWC) went 14-for-28 on 3-pointers and shot 48.3 percent from the field.
    Marcus Quick led Cornell (14-7, 9-3) with 24 points.
    Lawrence led wire-to-wire and withstood a pair of Cornell runs in the second half.
    The Vikings outscored Cornell 22-7 over the final 7:30 of the first half to build a 45-26 lead at the break. Lillwitz, who capped the run with a 3-pointer, scored all 12 of his points in the first half. 
    Cornell chipped away at the 19-point advantage and cut the margin to 58-56 on Logan Sharp's basket with 9:08 remaining. Brandon Danowski answered with a layup for the Vikings, and Sendell followed with another layup to push the lead back to 62-56.
    Lawrence was up 64-61 when the Vikings scored 10 consecutive points. Kaznikov hit a 3-pointer to get things started, and Sarancic and Sendell followed with layups. Kaznikov capped the burst with another 3-pointer to give the Vikings a 74-61 lead with 3:41 left.
    The Rams closed to within 79-75 with 51 seconds left, but the Vikings closed the game at the foul line. Sendell made four consecutive free throws, sandwiched around his own steal and layup, to seal the victory.
    Lawrence now hosts Cornell on Sunday in a unique weekend home-and-home series.