Saturday’s regular season finale didn’t mean much for the Cornell men, but in a different way than they are used to. The Big Red had already clinched the No. 4 seed in next weekend’s Ivy League Tournament and could not improve their standing in any way.
But Cornell did gain more of one thing — momentum.
After a victory over Yale last weekend, Cornell took the Columbia Lions wire to wire on their senior night, winning 78-64 at Levien Gym.
The Big Red (15-10, 7-7 Ivy) took a 4-0 lead in the opening three and a half minutes and never looked back. They led 16-5 over the Lions (4-22, 1-13) after a Keller Boothby layup eight minutes into the game and extended their lead to 18 at the half.
Out of the break, Columbia made a mini-run to cut Cornell’s lead down to 14 with 11:38 remaining, but the Lions would never get closer. The Big Red’s deep bench was too overwhelming for the Lions as Cornell picked up their seventh league victory, tying the 2018-19 team for the most since the 2011-12 season.
Sarju Patel, Dean Noll and Greg Dolan each scored 12 to pace Cornell. Patel made three triples, Noll made two and Dolan connected on five of his six shots. Boothby added 11 off 3-for-4 shooting from downtown.
The Big Red made 45% of their shots and 89% of their free throws. They turned the ball over 14 times to 19 assists and outrebounded Columbia, 42-34.
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led the Lions with 14 points off 6-for-13 shooting. Patrick Harding added 12 points and recorded 17 rebounds, while Zavian McLean scored 12 off the bench. Columbia made 39% of its shots and 23% of its three-point attempts. Columbia’s season is over.
Ivy Madness
With its 93-70 victory over Penn, Princeton clinched the Ivy League regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament. That means the Tigers will face Cornell in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament on Saturday. The game is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET on Sat., Mar. 12 from Lavietes Pavilion.
Cornell and Princeton split the season series, but Cornell has won three of the last four meetings. Princeton has won its last seven games since Cornell handed the Tigers an 88-83 defeat on Feb. 4 in Ithaca.
Yale and Penn face off in the other men’s semifinal matchup.