The Cornell men’s basketball team had a busy weekend, hoping to record its first Ivy win. After losing to Columbia twice last weekend, the Red took on two other conference rivals, Brown and Yale.
On Friday evening, the Red traveled to Providence to take on the Bears, who were led by the Ivy League’s leading scorer Sean McGonagill. The Red got off to a slow start against the 9-7 Bears. However, by the end of the half Cornell led by three points, 33-30.
Sophomore guard Nolan Cressler had a strong first half, scoring 13 points on nine shot attempts. Junior guard Devin Cherry also had a productive first twenty minutes with seven points and three rebounds.
The Bears kept competitive due to the impressive play of freshman guard Steven Spieth, who scored 11 points and shot a perfect three-for-three from the field without missing a free throw in the half.
The Bears came out of the locker room with a scoring run that crippled the Red’s chances. Cornell was outscored by 15 points in the half, leading to a final score of 78-66. Cressler was just one-for-six from the field, but it was the dominant play of McGonagill, who was relatively absent in the first half, that helped the Bears come out on top. McGonagill put together a line of 13 points, six rebounds and four assists in the half.
Despite Friday’s downfall, the Red had some strong performances of its own. Cherry recorded the first double-double of his career with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard Jake Matthews also had a game to remember, putting up a career-high 17 points off the bench.
After the loss, the Red headed to New Haven to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday night.
The game against the Bulldogs proved the Red’s ability to compete in the conference. Though the Red trailed by seven after the first half, the squad fought back after the break.
However, Cressler and Cherry helped bring the Red back into the game in the second half. The two guards combined for 33 points in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Yale, however, won the battle on the boards. The Bulldogs’ star sophomore forward Justin Sears grabbed 11 boards and scored 11 points and junior guard Javier Duren pulled down five rebounds.
Though the Red outscored the Bulldogs in the second half, its struggles in the first period came back to haunt the team, as Yale would eventually come out on top, 61-57.
Cressler had another impressive overall outing against the Bulldogs. The Red’s leading scorer put up a career-best line of 29 points, five rebounds and two assists. Cherry supported Cressler’s effort with 19 points of his own. As a team, the Red limited the Bulldogs to 38 percent shooting from the field.
Although the Red came out on the losing end, the play of Cressler, Cherry and Matthews throughout the weekend was promising. Cornell looks to put all its efforts together in its next matchup against Penn on Friday in Philadelphia.
Yale 71, Cornell 57: Despite a career-high 29 points from sophomore guard Nolan Cressler, the Big Red slipped to 1-17, 0-4 in the Ivy League, with its loss to the Bulldogs.
Yale shot just 38 percent from the floor (20-for-53) but held a decisive 42-26 advantage on the glass, which included an 18-4 edge in offensive rebounds and an 18-2 edge in second-chance scoring.
Cressler, who eclipsed his previous career high by two points, shot 8-of-16 from the field — including 3-for-6 from beyond the arc — and made all 10 of his free-throw attempts. He also notched five rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Javier Duren led Yale (9-9, 3-1) with 19 points and five rebounds, while Justin Sears added 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. The Bulldogs blanked the Big Red, 22-0, in bench scoring.
On Friday night, the Big Red backcourt of Jake Matthews and Devin Cherry combined for 30 points, yet the Brown Bears were able to overcome a halftime deficit to beat Cornell 78-66.
Matthews finished with a career-high 17 points and Cherry had his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
The Big Red led 33-30 at the half, but Brown used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to take charge.
Cornell will travel to the historic Palestra in Philadelphia on Friday for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Quakers (4-13, 1-2), then travel to Princeton Saturday to face the Tigers (12-5, 0-3).
Yale 71, Cornell 57: Despite a career-high 29 points from sophomore guard Nolan Cressler, the Big Red slipped to 1-17, 0-4 in the Ivy League, with its loss to the Bulldogs.
Yale shot just 38 percent from the floor (20-for-53) but held a decisive 42-26 advantage on the glass, which included an 18-4 edge in offensive rebounds and an 18-2 edge in second-chance scoring.
Cressler, who eclipsed his previous career high by two points, shot 8-of-16 from the field — including 3-for-6 from beyond the arc — and made all 10 of his free-throw attempts. He also notched five rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Javier Duren led Yale (9-9, 3-1) with 19 points and five rebounds, while Justin Sears added 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. The Bulldogs blanked the Big Red, 22-0, in bench scoring.
On Friday night, the Big Red backcourt of Jake Matthews and Devin Cherry combined for 30 points, yet the Brown Bears were able to overcome a halftime deficit to beat Cornell 78-66.
Matthews finished with a career-high 17 points and Cherry had his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
The Big Red led 33-30 at the half, but Brown used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to take charge.
Cornell will travel to the historic Palestra in Philadelphia on Friday for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Quakers (4-13, 1-2), then travel to Princeton Saturday to face the Tigers (12-5, 0-3).
After a disappointing loss at Brown last Saturday, the men’s basketball team bounced back with impressive wins against Columbia and Cornell this weekend.
On Friday, Yale (9–9, 3–1 Ivy) took on the Lions, who came into the matchup having won their last six contests. Columbia (13–8, 2–2) posed a serious threat to the Bulldogs with its Ivy League-leading outside shooting. The Elis, who have struggled all season to guard the arc, headed into Friday’s matchup allowing their opponents to shoot a scorching 42.9 percent from distance.
The first half was evenly fought, with both teams going to the line a handful of times and struggling to shoot from the floor. At the break, Yale held a narrow 23–20 lead.
In the second half, the Elis took advantage of their strong inside presence and began to pull away. Yale’s frontcourt of Justin Sears ’16, Brandon Sherrod ’15 and Matt Townsend ’15 scored a combined 22 points on 7–8 shooting after the break as the Bulldogs went on to win 69–59.
Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Sears dominated, scoring 22 points on 5–8 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Guard Armani Cotton ’15 contributed 13 points and three boards, and guard Javier Duren ’15 rounded things out with six points, four assists and four rebounds.
The Bulldogs did an impressive job on defense, holding Columbia to just 4–17 shooting from beyond the arc, well under the Lions’ 40.1 percent average for the season. On the other end, Yale drew an impressive 47 free throws and converted them at a 72.3 percent clip.
On Saturday, the Elis took on last-place Cornell. The Big Red (1–17, 0–4) have struggled so far this season, but the Bulldogs have been adamant about not taking their opponents lightly just because of their records.
Despite having the advantage on paper, the Elis did not come out of the gate well, falling behind 8–0 before getting on the board with a free throw from Sherrod. Head coach James Jones took the blame for the bad beginning.
“They pressed us to start the game and instead of taking advantage of their press, as we did in the second half, we pulled it out to run plays and our offense stalled a little bit,” Jones said. “We didn’t take full advantage of those opportunities and that’s what led to the slow start.”
Guard Nolan Cressler kept Cornell in the game with 29 points on 8–16 shooting. This marks the second time the Elis have given up that many points against an opposing Ivy player. Brown guard Sean McGonagill also scored 29 against the Bulldogs in the Bears’ win last Saturday.
Behind Cressler and guard Devin Cherry, who scored 18 of his 19 points after the break, the Big Red were able to make a run in the second half, outscoring Yale 38–35. After trailing by 12 at one point, Cornell tied the game at 47 with 5:25 left behind a pair of Cressler free throws.
“We expected a run,” Cotton said. “They’re the type of team that has those spurts because they have capable players. We just knew we needed that one crucial stop and one big score. The good thing is we saw it coming and we wanted to make sure we stuck to the plan: try to get it inside.”
Townsend came up big for the Elis, scoring on consecutive layups late in the game to give his squad a five-point lead with 2:21 to go. Yale was able to hold on and eventually win the game, 61–57.
Sears, coming off the bench again, overcame his 3–12 shooting to put up 11 points, 11 boards and a block. Duren led the team with a very efficient 19 points to go along with five boards and one assist.
Yale’s two biggest concerns heading into this weekend, guarding the arc and rebounding, were both nonissues. The Elis held their opponents to a combined 8–30 from distance and were a combined +25 on the boards against them. After giving up nine threes and being outrebounded by 10 against Brown last weekend, this was an encouraging sight, according to Duren.
“We got our confidence back,” Duren said. “We’re confident we can take this thing as long as we play as a team. Any time you play back-to-back games, it’s tough, whether you’re home or away. For the guys to come together and play together one more time to get another win, it was really great.”
The Bulldogs will go on the road next weekend to take on Dartmouth before heading to Cambridge for their first look at the Crimson. If they can pull out a tough road win in New Hampshire, the Elis will have a three-game winning-streak behind them going into their match with Harvard.
Javier Duren scored a team-high 19 points and Justin Sears had a double-double to lead Yale over Cornell 61-57 in an Ivy League men’s basketball game at the Lee Amphitheater Saturday night.
Duren, who scored just four points as Yale edged Columbia on Friday night, knocked down three 3-pointers as the Bulldogs (9-9, 3-1) won their second straight game.
Cornell was led by Nolan Cressler with 29 points, but the Big Red lost for their fourth straight time and have yet to beat a Division I team this season. Devin Cherry added 19 for Cornell (1-17, 0-4).
Sears scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Bulldogs dominated the backboards 42-26.
Yale trailed 13-3 six minutes into the game but responded with a 16-1 run and never trailed again. The Bulldogs led 26-19 at the break and opened up a double-digit lead early in the second half.
Cornell chipped away and tied the game at 47 on a pair of free throws by Cressler with 5:25 to play. Duren then sank a 3-pointer and Yale withstood some anxious moments down the stretch.
NEW HAVEN, CONN. — Javier Duren scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds as Yale held on to defeat Cornell 61-57 on Saturday.
Justin Sears came off the bench to add 11 points for the Bulldogs (9-9, 3-1 Ivy). Armani Cotton and Jesse Pritchard scored six each.
Cornell went 11-3 to start the first half but Yale answered in kind, tying the game 14-14 before pulling ahead to a 26-19 halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 10 by 12:06 in the second then went cold for the next seven minutes, allowing Cornell to tie it up 47-47 with 5:25 remaining. Duren hit a 3-pointer and Matt Townsend scored from the paint to help Yale recover the lead and hold it for the win Nolan Cressler led the Big Red (1-17, 0-4) with a career-high 29 points and five rebounds. Cornell has now lost 23 straight games against Division I opponents.
Justin Sears came off the bench to add 11 points for the Bulldogs (9-9, 3-1 Ivy). Armani Cotton and Jesse Pritchard scored six each.
Cornell went 11-3 to start the first half but Yale answered in kind, tying the game 14-14 before pulling ahead to a 26-19 halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 10 by 12:06 in the second then went cold for the next seven minutes, allowing Cornell to tie it up 47-47 with 5:25 remaining. Duren hit a 3-pointer and Matt Townsend scored from the paint to help Yale recover the lead and hold it for the win Nolan Cressler led the Big Red (1-17, 0-4) with a career-high 29 points and five rebounds. Cornell has now lost 23 straight games against Division I opponents.
Box Score I Box Score (PDF) | Game Highlights
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Sophomore Nolan Cressler scored a career-high 29 points and junior Devin Cherry added 19, but Cornell wasn't able to contain Yale on the backboards as the Bulldogs topped the Big Red 61-57 on Saturday evening at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The Big Red fell to 1-17 (0-4 Ivy), while Yale improved to 9-9 (3-1 Ivy).
Cressler surpassed his career of 27 with his 29, connecting on 8-of-16 field goals, all 10 of his free throws and 3-of-6 from 3-ppoint range while adding five rebounds, two steals and two assists. Cherry scored 18 of his 19 points after halftime and made 8-of-13 shots overall. Only four players scored on the day, with Dwight Tarwater notching seven points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots.
The Big Red did a nice job defensively against Yale, limiting the Bulldogs to 38 percent shooting overall and 33 percent from 3-point range, but the home team was able to control the backboards. Yale owned a 42-26 edge on the glass and had 18 offensive rebounds and an 18-2 edge in second chance points. That was the game.
Yale got 19 points and five rebounds from Javier Duren and 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench from Justin Sears despite his 3-of-12 shooting. Armani Cotton added six points and eight rebounds and Jesse Pritchard had six points, five rebounds and two assists off the bench. In all, Yale outscored Cornell off the bench 22-0.
Cornell scored the game's first eight points and led 13-3 before Yale began to rally. The Bulldogs got back within two thanks to an 8-0 run and caught Cornell at 14-14 by the under-eight minute timeout. Yale closed out the 16-1 with a 3-pointer by Isaiah Salafia to extend the lead to 19-14 before Cornell finally responded. Cressler hit a driving layup to get him into double figures and a 3-pointer on the Big Red's next possession got the visitors back to within 21-19. The Cornell defense forced a shot clock violation to lead into the final media timeout of the half, but a good 3-pointer by Nick Victor and a dunk by Brandon Sherrod ended the half with the home team up 26-19.
The Bulldogs took the lead to 14 in the first five minutes of the second half before the Big Red started chipping away. Cressler scored nine straight to help the visitors tie the game at 47-47 with 5:25 left, but Yale answered with the biggest shot of the game. Duren got a quick corner look from 3-point range and buried it. Yale would never again trail, though Cornell cut it to one on a pair of Cressler free throws on the next possession. The Big Red got a pair of open looks to tie or cut it to one within the final 90 seconds, but rimmed out both shots. Yale was able to hit three of his four free throws in the final 13 seconds to close out the win.
The Big Red returns to action on Friday, Feb. 7 when it visits Penn at 7 p.m. at the Palestra.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Sophomore Nolan Cressler scored a career-high 29 points and junior Devin Cherry added 19, but Cornell wasn't able to contain Yale on the backboards as the Bulldogs topped the Big Red 61-57 on Saturday evening at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The Big Red fell to 1-17 (0-4 Ivy), while Yale improved to 9-9 (3-1 Ivy).
Cressler surpassed his career of 27 with his 29, connecting on 8-of-16 field goals, all 10 of his free throws and 3-of-6 from 3-ppoint range while adding five rebounds, two steals and two assists. Cherry scored 18 of his 19 points after halftime and made 8-of-13 shots overall. Only four players scored on the day, with Dwight Tarwater notching seven points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots.
The Big Red did a nice job defensively against Yale, limiting the Bulldogs to 38 percent shooting overall and 33 percent from 3-point range, but the home team was able to control the backboards. Yale owned a 42-26 edge on the glass and had 18 offensive rebounds and an 18-2 edge in second chance points. That was the game.
Yale got 19 points and five rebounds from Javier Duren and 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench from Justin Sears despite his 3-of-12 shooting. Armani Cotton added six points and eight rebounds and Jesse Pritchard had six points, five rebounds and two assists off the bench. In all, Yale outscored Cornell off the bench 22-0.
Cornell scored the game's first eight points and led 13-3 before Yale began to rally. The Bulldogs got back within two thanks to an 8-0 run and caught Cornell at 14-14 by the under-eight minute timeout. Yale closed out the 16-1 with a 3-pointer by Isaiah Salafia to extend the lead to 19-14 before Cornell finally responded. Cressler hit a driving layup to get him into double figures and a 3-pointer on the Big Red's next possession got the visitors back to within 21-19. The Cornell defense forced a shot clock violation to lead into the final media timeout of the half, but a good 3-pointer by Nick Victor and a dunk by Brandon Sherrod ended the half with the home team up 26-19.
The Bulldogs took the lead to 14 in the first five minutes of the second half before the Big Red started chipping away. Cressler scored nine straight to help the visitors tie the game at 47-47 with 5:25 left, but Yale answered with the biggest shot of the game. Duren got a quick corner look from 3-point range and buried it. Yale would never again trail, though Cornell cut it to one on a pair of Cressler free throws on the next possession. The Big Red got a pair of open looks to tie or cut it to one within the final 90 seconds, but rimmed out both shots. Yale was able to hit three of his four free throws in the final 13 seconds to close out the win.
The Big Red returns to action on Friday, Feb. 7 when it visits Penn at 7 p.m. at the Palestra.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. –Javier Duren had a big final five minutes in Yale's crucial Ivy League victory over Cornell on Saturday. Duren scored seven of his team-high 19 points late in the second half as the Bulldogs escaped with a 61-57 victory over the Big Red at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.
After Cornell had rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tie the score at 47, Duren hit a big three-pointer to give the Bulldogs the lead. He then helped make sure they never relinquished it by hitting four free throws in the final 1:49 as Yale completed a weekend sweep and improved to 3-1 in Ivy play.
Justin Sears added 11 points and 11 rebounds, Armani Cotton and Jesse Pritchard each had six points, and Brandon Sherrod and Nick Victor contributed five points apiece for the Bulldogs.
Cornell (1-17, 0-4 Ivy) remains winless in Ivy play.
Yale (9-9) dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Big Red 42-26, and also had a 22-0 edge in bench points but still couldn't shake a pesky Cornell team.
Nolan Cressler and Devin Cherry were the reason why. Cressler scored 29 points, while Cherry added 19. The two combined for 48 of the Big Red's 57 points.
"Cornell is a much better team than their record shows," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball.
The Big Red certainly looked good at the start, racing out to an 8-0 lead after four minutes. The Bulldogs, though, outscored Cornell 26-11 over the rest of the first half and had a 26-19 lead at the intermission.
It looked like Yale was going to cruise home when the lead ballooned to 14 early in the second half, but the Big Red used a 14-4 run over a six-minute stretch to get back in it.
Cornell shot 54.5 percent from the field in the second half, while Yale began settling for quick shots.
"We took too many threes," Jones said. "We want to get the ball inside, but we gave up on it."
The Bulldogs were 8-of-24 from beyond the arc.
The victory capped a successful weekend for the Bulldogs, who beat Columbia 69-59 on Friday.
"We got our confidence back," Duren said. "The guys really came together."
NOTES: While Duren had the majority of the points down the stretch, Matt Townsend also had a couple of big baskets. His layup in traffic with 3:06 left gave the Bulldogs a five-point lead. Cherry answered immediately for Cornell, but Townsend scored again on Yale's next possession… Sears' double-double was his fifth of the season… The Bulldogs swept the Columbia-Cornell home weekend for the third time in the last four years… Yale is back on the road next weekend, travelling to Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday.
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