Home of the Roundball Poets
Two days removed from earning its first-ever bid to the National Invitational Tournament, Cornell men’s basketball had Ohio State on the ropes. Each team took swings with double-figure leads, but with a minute remaining, the Big Red led by two.
Fifth-year forward Jamison Battle knocked down a three with 43 seconds remaining, putting the Buckeyes up 82-81. Then came the first of two crucial mistakes for Cornell.
NEW YORK – The second day of the Ivy League Tournament brought the four men’s teams to Levien Gymnasium on the campus of Columbia University.
Below are highlights of the press conferences and links to the videos:
Heading into the final day of the regular season, the Cornell men still had an outside shot at a share of the Ivy League regular-season title. For starters, the Big Red needed to beat Columbia. That happened.
Cornell shot 55% from the field and six players scored in double digits as the Big Red won 98-76. Sophomore guard Cooper Noard had 17 points off five triples, junior guard Nazir Williams and senior forward Sean Hansen each had 14 and junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. scored 13.
Then, the Big Red needed Yale to lose to Brown — which also happened as Aaron Cooley sunk an improbable last-second shot in overtime. Lastly, Princeton needed to lose to Penn, but that didn’t happen as the Tigers dropped 105 on the Red and Blue.
Coming off arguably its best win of the season over Yale, Cornell men’s basketball laid an egg.
Trailing nearly the entire game, the Big Red couldn’t mount a late comeback Saturday night, losing to Brown, 78-74, spoiling Senior Night and a perfect record at Newman Arena this season. But most importantly, it pulled Cornell out of the driver’s seat in the battle for the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament.
Behind 15 with 4:49 left, the Big Red nearly mounted an improbable comeback. Senior forward Sean Hansen drilled a triple and senior guard Chris Manon finished in the paint. Junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. got a layup before backing his man down and eventually finishing and drawing a foul.
Ragland missed the free throw, but the Big Red came up with a stop. With 1:14 left, sophomore guard Cooper Noard squared up and nailed a corner triple to cut it down to 74-71.
That, however, was the closest Cornell got. Though the Bears missed multiple free throws down the stretch, the Big Red did the same as the door got left wide open.
Sophomore forward Kalu Anya led Brown with 23 points off 9-of-18 shooting. Junior forward Nana Owusu-Anane added 15 and senior guard Kimo Ferrari had 13.
For Cornell, Hansen led with 16 points and Ragland had 11. Manon and junior guard Nazir Williams each had 10 as Cornell shot just 44%, shooting well under 50% for the second consecutive night.
The loss draws Cornell even with Yale and Princeton at 9-2 in the Ivy. Both Cornell and Princeton went 1-1 against Yale this year, meaning the top seed in the conference will likely get decided next weekend when the Big Red visit the Tigers. Cornell handled Princeton earlier this year at Newman Arena.
But for a team that controlled its own destiny, losing to Brown is massive. It eliminates their cushion. And now, the Big Red will have heavy lifting at Jadwin Gymnasium to earn the No. 1 seed in a year when the top seed has never been so important.
First for Cornell, it’ll visit Penn on Friday night. Brown will host Cornell.
Cornell men’s basketball didn’t win Friday night’s marquee matchup with Yale because of its offense.
It won because of its defense and grit. And maybe a little luck.
Surviving the Bulldogs, 65-62, the Big Red took sole possession of first place in the Ivy League standings.
After its first Ivy League loss to Yale last weekend, Cornell men’s basketball wasn’t fazed.
Chip on their shoulders and all, the Big Red returned home and came up with a sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth for the second time in three weeks.
After hard-fought wins for both teams on Friday night, Cornell men’s basketball looked to use its depth, while Harvard hoped its physical defense would be the difference in the second night of the opening weekend of back-to-back contests.
While the two teams slugged it out in the first half, the Big Red’s relentless roster wore down the Crimson over the final 20 minutes and came away with an 89-76 win in front of an Alumni Night crowd that featured NCAA president and Ivy Basketball Legend Charlie Baker.
Statement made.
If someone predicted that Cornell men’s basketball would beat Princeton in Ithaca, most wouldn’t be overly surprised. That’s exactly what happened Saturday afternoon.
But what may have surprised people is the way the Big Red did it.
Down 31-28 at the half, the shots just weren’t falling for Cornell men’s basketball at Newman Arena against Penn on Monday. When a team like the Big Red live and die with offense, 36% shooting wasn’t going to cut it against a Quakers squad that rolled Dartmouth by 29 in its conference opener.
But Cornell went on to make 10 triples in the second stanza as it defeated the visitors, 77-60.
Senior guard Chris Manon stuffed the stat sheet for the hosts — recording 16 points, eight rebounds and finishing with five helpers. He swatted a pair of shots and came up with four steals. Junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. had an efficient afternoon, scoring 16 points off 6-for-10 shooting in front of 1,462 at Newman. Senior guard Isaiah Gray and junior guard Nazir Williams each poured in 10 while senior forward Keller Boothby knocked down three triples.
Here’s are two things we learned after Cornell improved to 2-0 in the Ivy League:
ITHACA, N.Y. – For the first time this season, Brian Earl finally gave junior guard Nazir Williams the nod to start. After an offseason knee procedure, he had been coming off bench and playing fewer minutes than last year.
Naturally, he delivered.