In a conference opening battle between the two most prolific offenses in the Ivy League, the Cornell men’s consistent production over 40 minutes proved to be the key in a 94-83 victory over Columbia at Levien Gymnasium.
By time the whistle sounded late Saturday afternoon, Cornell (9-5, 1-0 Ivy) had its first Ancient Eight victory of the year and long-time Big Red player and assistant coach Jon Jaques earned his first-ever conference win as a head coach. On the other side of the court, Jim Engles’ Lions (11-3, 0-1 Ivy) suffered its first loss in league play and home defeat after winning its previous eight non-conference contests.
Featuring two up-tempo teams averaging more than 80 points per game and 50% shooting from the field, the game lived up to its high-octane offensive billing.
Cornell jumped out of the gate quickly, hitting six of its first eight shots to open up a 13-4 lead by the first media timeout.
With the score 20-14, the Big Red used three straight triples, one from first year guard Anthony Nimani and a pair from junior guard Cooper Noard, to spur an 11-0 run and stretch the lead to 17 with just over nine minutes left in the first half.
Columbia cut the deficit to 14 points, but Cornell went on a 9-1 run to open up a 22-point advantage and finished the half up 20, 51-31.
The Big Red was incredibly hot from the floor in the opening frame, shooting 76% (13-for-17) from two, 54% (7-for-13) from three and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. The Lions were similarly strong from inside the arc, hitting 60% (12-for-20) and 80% (4-for-5) from the charity stripe, but struggled with only 10% (1-for-10) shooting from deep.
As usual for a Cornell team that likes to use most of its deep roster, nine of 10 players got at least a bucket. Columbia tried to keep up with the frequent substitutions and ended up with six of its players on the score sheet. Unfortunately, for the second straight game, the team’s leading scorer, senior guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa, had zero (0-for-6) first half points.
Starting the second half, the tables turned, and it was the Lions taking charge.
Over the first four minutes, Rubio De La Rosa scored the team’s first eight points, knocking down two triples and a driving layup, and junior guard Kenny Noland netted the next 10 points, hitting two three-pointers, a layup and a pair of free throws, to cut the deficit to nine, 58-49.
The Big Red responded with its own 8-0 run over the next minute, featuring two deep shots from sophomore guard Jacob Beccles to stretch the lead back to 17.
Cornell was still up by 17, 80-63, when junior forwards OK Okereke and DJ Nix hit close-range baby hook shots to make it 84-63 with 7:13 left in regulation.
As time and its chances dwindled, the Lions mounted one last run.
Junior guard Avery Brown started things off by hitting a pair of free throws, and senior forward Noah Robledo nailed a three-pointer from the left elbow a minute later.
After several misses from both teams, Noland was successful with a triple from the right elbow and Rubio De La Rosa drove the baseline for a reverse layup.
With under three minutes remaining in the half, Cornell’s lead was down to 11, 86-75, and the Levien Gymnasium crowd was on its feet.
On Cornell’s next possession, Noard drove for a layup and lost control of the ball. Fortunately for the Big Red, the ball went into the hands of senior forward Guy Ragland Jr., and he quickly dished it back to Noard, who sank a three-pointer from the left baseline.
After the Lions missed two triples on its next possession, Noard ended up with the ball on the right elbow and calmly hit a dagger three to make it an insurmountable 92-75 advantage with only 100 seconds left on the clock.
Columbia was excellent from the outside and free throw line in the second frame, shooting 61% (11-for-18) from three and 75% from the charity stripe, but it only managed 44% (8-for-18) from the inside and could only get to the line on four occasions.
Cornell, meanwhile, had another good twenty minutes of offense, despite going without a bucket for three-plus minutes late in the second half and not attempting any free throws, hitting 69% (11-for-16) from two and 50% (7-for-14) from three.
Beccles led the way for the Big Red, putting up a career-high 23 points in only 18 minutes of action. The Philadelphia native, who was named the player of the game by the ESPN+ broadcasting crew, entered the day with four three-pointers over the first thirteen games of the season and a 5.0 points per game average, but the reserve guard went 8-for-9 overall and 5-for-5 from downtown on Saturday.
Noard added 20 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including a 6-for-8 effort from three, and Okereke had 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting, five assists and three blocks. Senior guard Nazir Williams, Cornell’s leading scorer on the year, finished with his own stat-stuffing line of 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
For the Lions, Noland scored 19 points and had six assists. Of the team’s other double digits scorers, Brown totaled 18, De La Rosa notched 15 second-half points (and six assists), and Robledo came off the bench to add 10.
The Big Red go back on the road for a visit to Penn (4-10, 0-1 Ivy) on Saturday, before welcoming Brown (8-6, 0-1 Ivy) to Newman Arean on Monday. For Columbia, things don’t get any easier with MLK Jr. weekend games against two more Ivy Tournament participants. On Saturday, the Lions host Yale (8-6, 1-0 Ivy) and then visit Princeton (12-4, 1-0 Ivy) on Monday.
It doesn’t get any better than this for Cornell Big Red fans, who were out in force for the opener. Not only was it a great team performance with everyone contributing, but JAcob Beccles had a game to remember (23 points in 18 minutes-just ridiculous). Before, he could drive to the basket at will. If he keeps on shooting like this from the outside, he will basically be unguardable. The future also looks promising with Beccles only a sophomre, this freshman guard Nimani looking great, and another freshman guard who unfortunately is out with an injury. And this tall center who transferred from Washington state is only a soph and looked very good in warmups too!