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GAME RECAP: Cornell 68, Binghamton 54

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VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS


It looked as though Cornell men’s basketball had regressed to its losing ways of 2013-14. The Red (4-4) traveled down to South Carolina the weekend before Thanksgiving and dropped all three contests in the Charleston Classic. A trip back to upstate New York this week brought the Red back to .500, though, and seemed to right the ship. On Wednesday, Cornell defeated Canisius (2-3), 67-60, and then on Saturday handled Binghamton (1-6), 68-54.
Senior guard Galal Cancer led the Red in scoring with 18 points against Canisius. He also had eight rebounds and four steals. Senior forward Shonn Miller put up double figures as well, despite playing his fewest minutes this season.
On an off night for senior guard and co-captain Devin Cherry, other players stepped up. Cherry missed all of his field goal attempts and turned the ball over six times in the game. After scoring a total of 15 points all season, sophomore guard Darryl Smith was instrumental for the Red off the bench. The 6’ 2” guard scored 13 points on Wednesday, making both of his field goals and eight of nine free throws. 10 of his points came in the first half. Also impactful for the Red was sophomore forward David Onuorah, who scored a season-high nine points, connecting on four of five shots from the floor.
“We started off rather slow,” said head coach Bill Courtney. “But the bench guys did a terrific job of keeping us in the game.”
Cornell had 13 turnovers in the first half, including a stretch in which the Red turned the ball over on four straight possessions. Despite those struggles, Cornell was able to hang with Canisius in the first half thanks to a strong overall defensive performance. Canisius was limited to 35% shooting.
“We defended for a full 40 minutes,” Courtney said. “That’s something that we failed to do in Charleston, but we were able to do it here.”
Cornell also found success getting to the basket. The Red continued to get past defenders and get into the lane for easy layups. In the first half, Cornell scored 22 of its 32 points in the paint. Just one of the Red’s first half made field goals came from outside the paint, a three pointer from Smith.
After the break, Cornell came out strong. Following an offensive rebound by Miller, quick ball movement led to a resounding alley-oop from Cherry to Miller. On the next possession, Cancer knocked down a three. A minute later, Miller intercepted a Canisius pass and was fouled as he dunked the ball on the fast break. He would convert the free throw, giving the Red an eight point lead early in the second half.
Canisius’ Jermaine Crumpton helped the Griffins stay close and scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half to provide a spark for Canisius off the bench. Across a seven minute span toward the end of the game, Crumpton scored all of the Griffins’ points. Despite his strong performance, the Red would not relinquish the lead after halftime.
Both the Red and the Griffins made nine field goals in the second half. The crucial difference was that it took Canisius 29 shots while it took Cornell just 18. The Griffins converted six of their 12 free throws and the Red attempted 20, sinking 14.
On Saturday against Binghamton, Cornell briefly trailed in the opening minutes of the contest, but accurate shooting from the Red’s three point specialists gave the team an edge that it would hold onto for the rest of the game. The Red’s first 21 points came from beyond the arc, with sophomore guard Robert Hatter, Miller, Cherry, sophomore guard JoJo Fallas and Smith all getting in on the action. With a flurry of baskets, Cornell took a nine-point lead. The Red finished with a season-high 11 three point field goals made off of 25 attempts.
“[Binghamton] came at us in a zone defense. They forced us to shoot from the outside,” Courtney said. “We weren’t great shooting from range in the past couple games. But [on Saturday] we looked good and forced them to switch to man-to-man.”
A three-point play from Binghamton’s Bobby Ahearn brought the Bearcats within three with eight minutes to play in the first half, but Cornell was able to extend the lead to eight heading into the locker room.
The Red quickly went to work after the break, pushing the lead to 18 following a layup from Cherry. After attempting just three shots against Canisius, Cherry was much more active in Saturday’s game, taking 15 shots from the floor. Cherry finished with 12 points.
Cornell maintained a double digit lead for the rest of the game. Hatter paced the Red with 14 points and Miller had his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Cancer had a career-high eight assists. After registering 23 turnovers against Canisius, the Red had just 11 against Binghamton.
Cornell gets some rest before UMass Lowell (5-2) comes to Ithaca on Saturday at 4 PM.


VESTAL – An already rough week didn't get any better for the Binghamton University men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
Cornell University handed the Bearcats a 68-54 loss in front of an announced crowd of 1,950 in the Events Center. The loss dropped the Bearcats' record to 1-6, while Cornell (4-4) has already doubled its win total from last season.
Cornell took advantage of the Bearcats' shooting struggles, and benefited from the performance of its star senior forward Shonn Miller (11 points, 11 rebounds), particularly in the second half.
The Bearcats lost by 26 at Army earlier this week, and Saturday's game marked the first contest for the Bearcats since the university announced on Wednesday that junior guard and preseason all-conference pick Jordan Reed had taken a leave of absence.
"We're still trying to figure out who we are and who we need to be," Binghamton coach Tommy Dempsey said. "It's November. I know it's a tough stretch right now, and we're not playing good basketball, but it is November so we have to stay the course. ... This is a marathon. You don't get counted out in November."
Sophomore point guard Yosef Yacob scored a game-high 15 points and freshman guard Romello Walker tacked on 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds for Binghamton.
The Bearcats came into the game shooting just 31 percent from behind the 3-point line, and went just 4-for-16 from 3-point range on Saturday.
Binghamton shot just 36 percent from the floor (16 of 26 on free throws), and the lack of outside shooting allowed Cornell to crowd the paint and make everything difficult for Bearcats freshmen forwards Willie Rodriguez (eight points, three points, three turnovers) and Dusan Perovic (seven points, five rebounds).
Rodriguez, who had averaged more than 19 points per game in his previous three games, went 3-for-10 from the floor.
"I feel at times we're getting the right shots, they're just not falling down," Yacob said. "We need to work a little bit more on our chemistry as a team. A few things we're missing here and there, but overall I feel we're running the right sets. We're getting the right looks. It just has to start falling."
Cornell sophomore Robert Hatter led the team with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, while Devin Cherry added 12 points and Miller recorded his second double-double of the season.
Miller, the team's leading scorer and first-team All-Ivy League player, played just seven minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but he scored eight of his 11 points in the second half. He scored six points in the first five minutes of the second half.
The Bearcats trailed 35-27 at halftime, but they scored the first five points of the second half on a layup by Perovic and a Yacob 3-pointer from the wing in front of the Bearcats bench with 19:19 remaining. Less than one minute into the second half and the Bearcats were within three points, 35-32.
Then Miller took over. He made back-to-back jumpers from 15 feet out over the outstretched arm of Bearcats freshman Bobby Ahearn (three points, five rebounds). After a Rodriguez free throw, Miller drained another jumper to give Cornell a 41-33 lead. Cornell scored the next 10 points, capped by Cherry's layup in traffic to take its largest lead of the game, 18 points, 51-33.
"That's their best player," Yacob said of Miller's second-half flurry. "When he gets going, of course he's going to lift his team up."
Yacob pointed to the team's overall defensive performance — Cornell shot 46 percent from the floor and scored 15 second-chance points — as the primary reason for the loss.
Cornell's 3-point shooting dominated the first half. The visitors' first seven field goals were from behind the 3-point arc as they sprinted out to a 21-12 lead. Cornell's hot shooting forced Binghamton to abandon the zone defense it began the game using.
The defensive switch slowed the Cornell offense, but Binghamton couldn't score consistently enough to fully close the gap. Walker's reverse layup started an 8-0 run that pulled Binghamton within three points, 23-20, with 8:08 remaining in the first half. However, Binghamton scored just seven points for the rest of the half.
Once Miller sparked Cornell in the second half, the Bearcats were playing catch-up the rest of the game.



VESTAL, N.Y. – Cornell rained 3-pointers in the first half, then relied on its defense to make sure Binghamton didn't repeat last season's result with a 68-54 Big Red victory at the Events Center. The Big Red improved to 4-4, while the Bearcats slipped to 1-6.

Sophomore Robert Hatter scored 14 points to lead a balanced effort on the offensive end. Seniors Devin Cherry (12 points, six rebounds, three assists) and Shonn Miller (11 points, 11 rebounds) also reached double figures. Cornell hit 11-of-25 from beyond the arc, including a 9-of-17 effort in the first half. The Big Red defense continued to be the story, however, limiting the home team to 36 percent shooting (33 percent in the second half) with a 38-33 advantage on the glass.

It didn't end there, however. The tandem of senior big men Dave LaMore and Ned Tomic made big contributions off the bench with a combined 14 points and seven rebounds to give the Big Red balance, while senior Galal Cancer had six points and a career-best eight assists. Sophomore JoJo Fallas hit two of Cornell's 11 3-pointers to become the seventh player on the roster to score between six and 14 points in the win.

Yosef Yacob led Binghamton with 15 points and Romello Walker had 10 points and seven rebounds. Willie Rodriguez, who entered the game averaging 19 points over his previous three contests, was held to eight on 3-of-10 shooting.

A year ago, Cornell led Binghamton by 16 points with 10 minutes to play and watched the Bearcats win in regulation by 10. This season, the Big Red led by 15 points with 10 minutes remaining. That's where the similarities ended.

There was no such comeback as the Big Red continued to show it's a new year.

Cornell led by as many as 18 and never saw It dip below 13 after an early 16-1 run in the second half turned a three-point game into a comfortable road win. The 14-point margin of victory on the road was the best in a game under head coach Bill Courtney and was the most since the 2009-10 Ivy League championship run.

Cornell's defense never allowed Binghamton to take a serious swing at them after halftime after opening the stanza with a five-point run to cut a 35-27 Big Red lead to 35-32. Miller hit three consecutive jumpers, Robert Onuorah stepped out and hit a free throw jumper and Cherry hit a 3-pointer. By the time Hatter hit his third triple of the game and Cherry snaked inside for a layup, Cornell all of a sudden led 51-33 and the rest was elementary.

Binghamton got the game off to a quick start and scored seven straight after the Big Red hit an opening 3-pointer. Cornell's opening basket would be a sign of things to come as the visitors hit seven 3-pointers (7-of-10) in the first 8:08 to race out to a 21-12 lead. Tomic finished on a great pass from Darryl Smith right before the under-12 minute timeout to stretch it to 23-12, but Binghamton got right back in it, scoring eight straight to get back within three.

Cancer hit two more 3-pointers in the final five minutes and Cherry beat the defense to draw a foul and hit two free throws right before the half to go into the break to lead 35-27.

Cornell will play its final game before exam break when it hosts UMass-Lowell on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 4 p.m. at Newman Arena.

In two games over the last two years, the Binghamton men’s basketball team gave Cornell a run for its money. Binghamton (1-6) exploded for over 50 second-half points to overcome 20-point deficits in each case, keeping the game close and even taking a win last year.

But Binghamton (1-6) could not meet its precedent in the two programs’ annual matchup this year. The Bearcats couldn’t get their shots to fall, and they posted a 36.2 percent shooting clip from the floor en route to their 68-54 loss at the Events Center on Saturday afternoon.
“Right now everything is tough for us,” BU head coach Tommy Dempsey said. “Every basket is tough for us, everything is a grind out there right now offensively.”
Dempsey described the group’s current mood as being in a “funk.” No doubt, that has something to do with the program’s former star, junior guard Jordan Reed, taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team. And while no one can say what would have happened had he played on Saturday, he was crucial in keeping pace with Cornell (4-4) the past two years, eclipsing the 20-point mark in both 2012-13 and 2013-14.
While Dempsey’s rotations weren’t fixed to begin with and Reed hadn’t played over 10 minutes a game since the season opener against Notre Dame on Nov. 14, the third-year player was supposed to be able to provide senior leadership to Dempsey’s young squad, comprising seven freshmen and five sophomores.
With Reed gone, there are just two upperclassmen – senior forward Jabrille Williams and junior guard Karon Waller – left on the roster. And over seven games, those two have combined for under 10 minutes.
Unsurprisingly, the young squad is struggling. That was evident in Binghamton’s numbers against Cornell. They shot just 4 for 16 from the perimeter and were outrebounded, 38-33. They converted just 17 of 47 shots from the field while the Big Red finished shooting 45.6 percent, converting 12 of 28 from the floor.
“At times we were getting the right shots, they just weren’t falling down,” sophomore guard Yosef Yacob said. “We need to work a little bit more on our chemistry as a team. There are a few things that are missing here and there, but overall, I felt like we were running the right sets and getting the right looks, so the ball just has to start falling in.”
Yacob led the team with 15 points, 11 of them second-half points. He helped to pace a Bearcat team that dipped to 33.3 percent shooting after halftime and that wasn’t putting many looks together.
Though Binghamton came in with a plan to execute against Cornell, that was foiled. Dempsey saw that Cornell had struggled against zone defenses in its first few games this season; Binghamton opened the game running a zone. But in response, the Big Red dominated from the perimeter: They scored their first 21 points on 3-pointers, converting seven of their 10 attempts through the opening nine minutes of the game.
“Sometimes you go into [the game] and you think one thing is going to be the most effective – like we thought the zone was going to be effective tonight – and it wasn’t, so we adjusted,” Dempsey said.
Following a timeout, Binghamton pressed man-to-man and limited its visitors to just two more treys until halftime. But Cornell refused to be stymied, and the team’s offensive glass-crashing allowed them to jump ahead. The Big Red scored 15 second-chance points and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds through the game.
In the second half, Binghamton looked like it might come roaring back as it had in the past, scoring on each of its first two possessions. Freshman forward Dusan Perovic dropped in two off a hook shot and Yacob nailed a three in transition to narrow the gap to three points, 35-32.
But three straight jumpers from Cornell’s leading scorer, senior forward Shonn Miller, and Cornell went on a 16-1 run spanning nearly six minutes. The Big Red jumped up to a 51-33 lead with 12:38 remaining, and Binghamton couldn’t bounce back. Cornell finished out the game with a 14-point lead, 68-54.
Behind Yacob, freshman guard Romello Walker reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points. He also grabbed a team-high seven boards. Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez, who has averaged 19.3 points over the past three games, added eight points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field.
The loss to Cornell comes on the heels of an 80-54 blowout to Army on Tuesday night. In that game, Rodriguez recorded his first collegiate double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Despite his success, Army’s 15-point lead heading into halftime was too much to overcome, and Army (5-0) preserved its perfect record.
Next up for BU is a road match next Wednesday at Boston University. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Case Gym in Boston, Mass.


VESTAL, N.Y. - Visiting Cornell drilled nine three-pointers in the first half and then used a 16-1 run early in the second half to pull away from Binghamton men’s basketball (1-6) 68-54 Saturday afternoon at the Events Center.
The Big Red (4-4) made six straight threes early in the game to build a 23-12 lead. A three-point play by freshman forward Bobby Ahearn capped an 8-0 BU run that pulled the Bearcats to within three, 23-20, with 8:07 left in the half. But BU misfired on 10-of-12 to end the period and Cornell took a 35-27 cushion into intermission.
Binghamton scored the first five points of the second half to cut its margin to three, 32-25, but Cornell responded with the pivotal 15-point run, which spanned 6:39. The run was spearheaded by a pair of three-pointers and three mid-range jumpers from All-Ivy forward Shonn Miller, who wound up with a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Down 51-33 with 12:38 left, BU pulled no closer than 13 points the rest of the way. 
“We struggled today and as a group we’re struggling right now,” head coach Tommy Dempsey said. “We’re in a little bit of a funk but we have a lot of chances going forward to play better basketball and we have to focus on the next game.”
Sophomore guard Yosef Yacob scored a game-high 15 points - 11 in the second half. He hit 4-of-7 from the floor, 6-of-7 from the line and added four assists. Freshman guard Romello Walker added 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Bearcats shot just 33 percent in the second half (7-for-21) and for the game, left 10 points at the free throw line, going 16-for-26 (62%).
“I thought we did a good job protecting the ball in the first half and got good shots ... but we’re not shooting the ball well. When your stats are what they are from three-point range, teams are going to pack it in the paint against us. We’re going to have to make shots to stretch the defense. Every basket is tough for us right now ... it’s a grind offensively and we have to find ways to get easier baskets. We’re still trying to figure out who we are. It’s a tough stretch and we have to stay the course and keep fighting in practice to get better. This is a marathon ... you don’t get counted out in November.”
The Bearcats renew acquaintances with former America East foe Boston University Wednesday night on the road. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Boston.


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News and Notes: Saturday Edition

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Below, news and notes...

Black Friday is about getting all the deals and steals from the weekend at the stores. This relates to the Binghamton men's basketball team because they are trying to steal a win from Cornell tomorrow at the events center.
The Big Red come to town for a game at 2 pm tomorrow.
The Bearcats haven't won a game since November 19th against D-3 Hartwick College and sit at 1-5 in the standings.
Last year, BU beat Cornell 89-79 for their first win of the season and that helped them going in the right direction.
The team had 3 days off to practice and work out all the kinks as tomorrow will be another test against a very good Ivy league team.
"That was one of the most significant games last season and that's when we really rallied and became a team. I would say that same thing this year. We really need that to happen this season. We have had a rocky start so far but we had a players only team meeting a couple of days ago and we addressed a lot of things and we are really excited about playing tomorrow," said Sophomore Nick Madray.
Tomorrow will be the first time Binghamton plays without Jordan Reed on the roster.
You don't expect any college basketball team to face a turning point in the third week of the regular season, yet that's where the Binghamton University men's team stands.
For better or worse, the week of Thanksgiving will be the line of demarcation for this season, and likely for the program going forward under coach Tommy Dempsey.
How the team responds to Jordan Reed's leave of absence will be crucial to the program's rebuilding effort. Binghamton (1-5) will play its first game without Reed at 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon in the Events Center against Cornell University (3-4).
Dempsey, in his third season, declined to elaborate on what led to the school announcing on Wednesday afternoon that Reed had stepped away from the program "indefinitely."
"We released a statement," Dempsey said Friday. "That's kind of where we are right now. We really have to focus on getting ready for tomorrow's game and eliminating the distractions that we've had."
With Reed's future uncertain, the Bearcats now have a roster with their core made up of sophomores and freshmen.
The sophomores who were thrown in the fire last season like Nick Madray, Yosef Yacob, Marlon Beck and Magnus Richards now have to set the tone. It sounds as if they have already recognized the importance of pulling the team together.
When asked on Friday about what stood out from last season's game against Cornell, Madray offered an interesting response.
"That was one of the most significant games last season," Madray said. "That's when we really rallied, and that's when we became a team. I would say the same thing this year. We really need that to happen this season.
"We've had a rocky start so far, but we had a players-only team meeting a couple days ago. We addressed a lot of things that went on, and we're really excited about playing Cornell."
Without giving all the details, Madray said the players all had a chance to speak their minds and came away resolved to spend more time together as an entire team, whereas separate cliques had started to form. Now that things have been "aired out," the team will either come closer together or pull further apart.
The pessimistic view leads to a scenario of doom and gloom. In that case, you would consider Reed as the first shoe to drop. Next, the struggled continue on the court for a team still featuring a lot of inexperienced players. Minimal progress by the end of the season leads some of the talented players brought in to question this rebuilding process, change paths, and leave the program.
After all, Mark Macon started a rebuilding process and then it fell apart quickly when continued struggles led the players who were considered program building blocks to go elsewhere.
On the optimistic side, the players continue to improve together and enjoy success later in the season. Not only do they hold their own against America East Conference teams, but they really start to grow into a fast-paced, full-court pressing team and thrive on the court.
You'd also hope the players become an even more tightly-knit group instead of letting whatever fractures currently exist grow. Leaders emerge from this current core that will remain together for the following two seasons. Pretty soon the players police things on and off the court.
No more missed shootarounds. No more butting heads with coaches. They simply play for each other.
Where this season and the future of the program goes from here will depend on how the players respond.
If you're a Binghamton fan, then the content of the players-only meeting is far less important than the result. Three of the next four games will be at home in the Events Center, so we'll all be looking closely at those results.
SCOUTING REPORT
Matchup: Cornell University (3-4) vs. Binghamton University (1-5) in a men's college basketball game.
When: 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon in the Events Center, Vestal.
Tickets: Chairback Admission $13, general admission $8, wheelchair accessible $8, wheelchair companion $8.
Series history: Cornell leads 6-3.
Last meeting: Binghamton won, 89-79, on Nov. 13 in Ithaca.
Scouting Cornell: The Big Red needed just less than one month to surpass its win total from the entire 2013-14 season (2-26). ... The return of senior forward Shonn Miller has bolstered the team this season. The 6-foot-7 210-pound former First-team All-Ivy League selection missed all of last season with a shoulder injury. Through the first seven games of this season he leads the team with averages of 13.6 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game. He also had a team-high 13 blocked shots. ... Senior guard Galal Cancer, an Albany resident who also did not play last season, has averaged 12.9 points per game, shot 38 percent from behind the 3-point arc, and he has recorded a team-best 10 steals.
Scouting Binghamton: Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez has averaged team-bests in scoring (12 points per game) and rebounding (5.5 rebounds per game) though six games. In his past three games, he has averaged 19.3 points a 8.3 rebounds. ... Freshman forward Dusan Perovic has averaged 10.3 points per game, and he has shot 51 percent from the floor and 73 percent (8-for-11) on 3-pointers. ... Sophomore guard Marlon Beck scored a career-high 27 points against Cornell last season in Ithaca. He scored 19 second-half points to help the Bearcats rally after trailing by as many as 19 points in the second half. ... Sophomore forward Magnus Richards' status for Saturday was uncertain on Friday afternoon. He injured his shoulder in practice.
The Binghamton Bearcats host the Cornell Big Red at the Events Center Saturday afternoon at 2PM with air at 1:45 on News Radio 1290 WNBF. Binghamton comes into the game with a record of 1-5 while Cornell is 3-4 and is coming off a 67-60 win over Canisius on Wednesday. The Bearcats lost at Army on Tuesday night 80-54.

In 10 meetings between the two teams Cornell has the edge 7-3. At Cornell last season the Bearcats came away with an 89-79 come from behind decision. Shonn Miller has returned for his senior season following a shoulder injury suffered early last year. The 6′ 7″ forward can sky and going into the week he was averaging 14 points and 7 rebounds per game.

Binghamton has seen the emergence of freshman Willie Rodriguez into a solid scorer. He hit for 20 points and added 10 rebounds in the loss to Army.

The Bearcats will be without one of the America East Conference’s premier players. Jordan Reed, who has seen limited playing time so far this season, has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team for personal reasons.
Just over five years ago, Zach Spiker took a position both deeply respected and unenviable, simultaneously joining the lineage of Hall of Fame coaches given the unique opportunity to coach at Army, while also taking over a team without a winning season in a quarter-century.
Coming southeast after a successful stint as an assistant at Cornell, Spiker had received his first head coaching job, and like any person in any new position, was uncertain what was to come.
But less than a week into his tenure, the 33-year-old received a visit from a coach whose career began before he was born, a coach with more advice and insight than could fit into a visit — Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, a West Point graduate and Army’s coach from 1975-80.
“He was on campus and we just sat and talked for awhile,” Spiker said. “He’s been very supportive and he’s been very, very open and willing to share his time. He’s been terrific.”
Despite their demanding schedules, the coaches have developed a friendship, communicating a few times during the season, via text or phone, with the NCAA’s all-time winningest coach still coming back to West Point at least once each year...

  • Today at 2 pm, Kevin App (Cornell '07), now head coach of Williams College, will face Skidmore and Joe Burke, a former Cornell assistant coach on App's '03-'04 Steve Donahue-led Cornell team.
  • Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports writes, "The Atlantic 10 is a really good basketball conference but the middle and bottom of the league has to do better. We've already seen St. Joseph's lose to FDU and Western Kentucky, George Mason fall to Cornell, Fordham go down against UMass-Lowell, and Saint Louis drop a close one at home against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. That's not good for a league that's trying to build off having six teams in the NCAA Tournaments last March."

Related for November 2014 :

Binghamton Athletics Notes for Cornell's Visit

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Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)
VESTAL, N.Y. - After its longest layoff (3 days) of the hectic early season, Binghamton men’s basketball returns to the hardwood when the Bearcats (1-5) host Cornell (3-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Events Center.
Binghamton is looking to reignite an offense that averaged 71 points during a three-game stretch but was held to 54 points on 31 percent shooting in Tuesday’s 26-point loss at Army. Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez (12.0 ppg.) produced his first collegiate double-double at West Point with team-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Rodriguez is averaging 19.3 points and 8.3 rebounds over his last three outings. Freshman forward Dusan Perovic is BU’s other double-digit scorer on the season (10.3 ppg.). Perovic has also hit 8-of-11 three-point attempts.
Sophomore guard Yosef Yacob (7.8 ppg.) and second-year forward Nick Madray (7.3 ppg.) add to the offensive production. Madray chipped in nine points, six rebounds and a career-high four blocks at Army. Freshman wing Justin McFadden has been one of the team’s strongest defenders and has made 18-of-19 free throws (95%) at the other end of the floor.
The Bearcats have seven players - all underclassmen - averaging 20 minutes of playing time. 
The Big Red (3-4) are coming off a 67-60 home win against Canisius on Wednesday – a victory that snapped the team’s three-game losing skid. Previously, they beat George Mason (68-60), lost to Loyola (71-76) and beat Colgate (58-52) before dropping all three games at the Charleston Classic (S.C.), to South Carolina (69-45), Penn State (72-71) and Drexel (61-59). Three of the team’s four losses have come by five or fewer points and the Big Red held late leads over both Penn State and Drexel.
Against Canisius, senior guard Galal Cancer scored 18 points, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and had four steals, sophomore guard Darryl Smith notched 13 points off the bench and senior forward Shonn Miller had 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal in just 22 minutes of action. The Big Red pressure defense limited Canisius to just 33 percent shooting overall and 29 percent from the 3-point line.
Cornell returns three starters and 10 letterwinners from a 2013-14 team that struggled to a 2-26 record. The Big Red were chosen eighth (of eight) in the Ivy League Preseason Poll. But this team has been boosted by the return of Miller, a first team All-Ivy selection who missed the entire season last winter with a shoulder injury.
Cornell leads the all-time series, which began in 1988, 6-3. But the Bearcats pulled off a memorable 89-79 win last season in Ithaca. In that game, BU orchestrated a stunning second-half comeback from 19 points down and ended the game with a 17-2 run. The Bearcats put 59 points on the board in the second half and then-freshman guard Marlon Beck II punctuated the comeback with a game-high 27 points, 19 coming in the pivotal second period. Binghamton made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 45 seconds to seal the win. The Bearcats had three 20-point scorers for the first time in the program’s Division I era.

Related for November 2014 :

GAME RECAP: Cornell 67, Canisius 60

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ITHACA, N.Y. – A wintry mix blanketed the roads and walkways of central New York, Wednesday night. Inside the Newman Arena, Cornell’s Big Red endured their own rough patch late in the first half.
Galal Cancer posted a game high as Cornell defeated the Canisius Golden Griffins, 67-60 in non-conference action.
The senior guard scored five midway through the second half as the Big Red pulled away for their third win of the season.
“He’s been tremendous the last few games,” Cornell head coach Bill Courtney said. “When he stays out of foul trouble, he’s been our go-to guy down the stretch. That was a huge stretch from him.”
With Cornell clinging to a four-point lead, Cancer connected on a catch-and-shoot three. He followed with a steal and layup to give the Big Red a 58-49 advantage and 5:42 left in the game.
“He’s attacking the basket and taking open threes,” Courtney continued. “It’s great to see him make a couple open threes because he’s been making them in practice.”
Cancer hit from behind the arc as the Big Red scored the first eight coming out of the half to break open a tie game.
“Coming into this game, we wanted to do it for the full 40 minutes,” Cancer stated.  “At halftime, we felt we weren’t playing the way we should, so we came out and pushed each other…Luckily my teammates found me open.”
The run came after a pair of Cornell starters ended the first half on the bench with foul trouble.
“Shonn Miller and Devin Cherry both had two fouls for the last eight minutes of the first half,” Courtney noted. “We weathered that storm which was kind of a great thing. They’re captains. They put the onus on the other guys.”
The pair combined on an alley oop to start the scoring in the second with Cherry feeding his teammate for the slam.
“If we’re able to get stops and rebounds, we’re pretty fast in transition,” Courtney explained. “That allowed us to get out and run a little bit.”
“That’s our identity,” Cancer said. “Speed teams up. Make them do what they don’t want to do. Don’t let them run offense.”
The Griffs battled back repeatedly throughout the second stanza but could not get over the hump.
Trailing by ten, Jeremiah Williams and Josiah Heath scored back-to-back baskets to cut the lead to six at 49-43. The Griffs got a stop on the defensive end but failed to trim the deficit any further.
“It’s a process, but you’re playing teams, especially on the road, that can hit shots, and have upper classmen who are good players,” Canisius head coach Jim Baron stated. “It’s on-the-job training, and they got to step up. We needed guys to step up.”
After Cancer pushed the Cornell lead to nine, Jermaine Crumpton connected on a pair of threes and hit two from the free throw line making it a four-point game at 61-57 with 1:56 remaining.
“He’s very aggressive, very physical,” Baron said of his redshirt freshman. “He’s good that way because he can score inside and outside.”
Canisius missed five of eight free throws in the game’s closing moments.
“We need guys to step up because that’s what it’s all about,” Baron added. “It’s an opportunity for each guy every game we play.”
Phil Valenti played just eight minutes of the first half. The sophomore forward needed stitches in his mouth before returning to the game in the second half. Zach Lewis picked up his fourth foul with 8:54 remaining on the game clock.
The Griffs tallied a trio of easy baskets early in the game to grab a four-point lead. Jamal Reynolds fed Jan Grzelinski for a layup in the open floor. Zach Lewis grabbed a defensive rebound and found Phil Valenti on the leak out. Cassius Robertson scored on a similar play when he got ahead of the defense and took an Adam Weir feed for two.
Lewis gave Canisius its largest lead of the half at 13-9 with a step back jumper in the lane
“We wanted to be aggressive,” Baron explained. “I told our guys ‘just get that thing down the court and attack them.’ I thought we did a real, good job the first half. The second half we just had too many silly fouls. You can’t do that. You got to play smarter and you got play wiser when you’re playing against a quick team.”
“We made an adjustment at half to take away the leak out plays,” Courtney said. “We realized our guys were getting caught pressing.”
Williams sparked a 13-6 run as Canisius and Cornell went into the locker room tied at 32. The senior guard drilled a catch-and-shoot three from the right corner. After Kevin Bleeker converted on one of two free throws, Williams used a crossover to drive from the wing to knot the score at 30. Canisius briefly took the lead when Crumpton hit a pair of free throws.
Cancer closed the half with a drive from the top and reverse layup.
Darryl Smith sparked the Big Red midway through the first half. The sophomore converted a traditional three-point play with a drive from the wing and one. After the under 12 media timeout, Smith nailed a catch-and-shoot three from the corner. His two free throws gave Cornell a 19-16 advantage. Cancer pushed the lead to seven when he grabbed a loose ball in the lane and scored.
Cancer finished with 18 and a team-high eight rebounds. Miller added 13, and Smith had 10.
Cornell outscored Canisius 32-22 in the paint.
Crumpton paced the Griffs with 15. Lewis added 14. Williams had 10. Reynolds pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
Canisius created 23 turnovers.
Cornell improved to 3-4. Three of Cornell’s four defeats have come by a combined eight points. Canisius fell to 2-2.
Cornell travels to Binghamton, Saturday.
The Griffs take on the University of Buffalo in the Big 4 doubleheader, Saturday at the First Niagara Center. A 4:15 tipoff is scheduled.


ITHACA – The Canisius men’s basketball team may not be in the holiday mood today as the Golden Griffins dropped a close 67-60 decision to Cornell on Wednesday night at Newman Arena.
A crowd of 750 attended the Thanksgiving Eve contest. They saw the Big Red use a 10-2 run to open the second half to seize control of the game for good.
The contest was tied 32-32 at halftime.
Shonn Miller scored seven of his 10 points during the opening 3 minutes, 46 seconds of the half for the Big Red (3-4), who received a game-high 18 points from Galal Cancer.
Canisius (2-2), losers of two straight, pulled within four points three times – the last with 49 seconds left after a Zach Lewis free throw. Lewis finished with 14 points.
Redshirt freshman Jermaine Crumpton (Niagara Falls) scored a career-high 15 points to lead Canisius, which returns to action at First Niagara Center at 4:15 p.m. Saturday against the University at Buffalo.
Canisius went 1-2 on its three-game road trip.
Crumpton’s two free throws gave Canisius a 32-30 lead late in the first half after it had trailed by as much as seven, but Cancer’s layup with 1 second left tied it for the final time.
Shooting doomed the Griffs, as they made just 19 of 57 from the floor (33.3 percent) compared to the Big Red’s 21-of-47 effort (44.7 percent).


Senior guard Galal Cancer scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Cornell men’s basketball team to a 67-60 victory over Canisius in non-league play Wednesday night at Newman Arena.
The win lifted the Big Red to 3-4 on the season, eclipsing its win total of last season, when it finished 2-26. The Golden Griffins fell 2-2 with their second straight loss.
Cancer’s totals were both team-highs. Senior forward Shonn Miller chipped in 10 points and seven boards and sophomore guard Darryl Smith came off the bench to score 13 points, 10 of them in the first half when he shot 2-for-2 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the foul line.
Jermaine Crumpton came off the bench to score 15 points for Canisius, while guard Zach Lewis chipped in 14 points before fouling out. Jeremiah Williams added 10 points and also fouled out.
The Big Red used a 14-3 run in the first half to turn a four-point deficit into a 26-19 lead with 5:16 to go before intermission. Canisius went on a late first-half run and took a 32-30 lead with 31 seconds left on two Crumpton foul shots, but Cancer scored on a layup with one second left to send the teams to halftime tied.
The Red scored the first eight points of the second half — on two thunderous Miller dunks and a Cancer 3-pointer — and didn’t lead by fewer than four points the rest of the night. Cornell took its largest lead at 49-39 on a pair of Smith free throws with 13:27 left.
The Big Red allowed just 33 percent shooting overall and 29 percent from the 3-point line, while shooting 44.7 percent itself (21-for-47).
Cornell hits the road on Saturday to play Binghamton, in a game scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Events Center. The Big Red leads the all-time series, 7-3, although the Bearcats won last year’s matchup, 89-79, rallying from a 19-point second-half deficit.


ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell's suffocating defense helped the Big Red snap a three-game skid with a 67-60 win over Canisius on Wednesday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 3-4 on the season, while the Golden Griffins fell to 2-2.

The Big Red allowed just 33 percent shooting overall and 29 percent from the 3-point line, contested nearly every made shot and erased the memory of the last two contests -  last-minute losses to Penn State and Drexel - by closing out the Golden Griffins in the closing minutes. The win sends the Big Red into a short Thanksgiving break with momentum at the end of a stretch of eight games in 16 days.

Galal Cancer scored 18 points, grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and had four steals, Darryl Smith notched 13 points off the bench and Shonn Miller had 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal in just 22 minutes of action to lead the Big Red. Miller had one of the most dominant four-minute stretches in recent memory to open the second half, propelling a halftime tie into a lead Canisius would never recover from. Cornell held a 40-35 rebounding edge and shot 50 percent from the floor after halftime to mitigate a season-high 23 turnovers. David Onuorah scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds, had two steals, a block and an assist in the win,

Jermaine Crumpton scored 15 points off the bench, while leading scorer Zach Lewis notched 14 points, but was held to 5-of-15 shooting and five turnovers by the Big Red defense. Jeremiah Williams rounded out three Canisius double figure scorers with 10 points.

The two teams ended a ragged first half deadlocked at 32-32. The teams combined for 21 turnovers, 21 fouls and at least a dozen floor burns in the first 20 minutes, and it was Cancer's driving layup at the horn that knotted the score at the break. Cancer ended the half with 10 points and tied his career-best with seven boards at the break. Cornell played a majority of the first half without Miller and Cherry, who each picked up two fouls in the first 10 minutes. In all, five Big Red players had two fouls at the break.

Miller took over the game with a first four minutes that needed to be seen to be believed. His effort to open the second half pushed a tie game to an eight-point lead for the home team.

The second half got kicked off by Miller chasing down a loose ball and finishing a thunderous alley-oop on one end, then finding a wide open Cancer for a 3-pointer for a 5-0 Big Red spurt to make it 37-32. Miller then picked up a steal at midcourt and went the rest of the way for another thunderous dunk. A Golden Griffin player reached in for the foul, and Miller's free throw made it 40-32 just 2:49 into the stanza. Miller came down and blocked a shot to complete the dominant three-minute span.

Canisius never was able to make a real run afterwards, getting within four points on three occasions. Each time the Big Red responded. Cornell made 6-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes to lock up the win, its first over the Golden Griffins since January of 1993.

Cornell hits the road on Saturday to play Binghamton on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. at the Events Center. The Big Red leads the all-time series 7-3.


ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell senior guard Galal Cancer had a game-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds and four steals and the host Big Red shot 50 percent from the field in the game’s second half to knock off Canisius 67-60 in non-conference men’s basketball action Wednesday night in Newman Arena. With the win, Cornell snaps its three-game losing skid and moves to 3-4 on the year, while the Golden Griffins dropped to 2-2.

For Canisius, redshirt-freshman Jermaine Crumpton scored a career-high 15 points off the bench. Sophomore Zach Lewis was good for 14 points and four steals, while senior guard Jeremiah Williams added 10 points to the losing effort. For the game, Canisius shot 33.3 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from 3-point land and 61.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Canisius trailed by six points with 3:56 left in the first half before Williams scored five of the Blue and Gold’s next six points to make the score 30-30 with 57 seconds left before the intermission. After Crumpton knocked down a pair of free-throws with 31 seconds left in the first half top put Canisius up 32-30, Cornell held for the last shot and scored as the first half horn sounded when Cancer drove through the lane and laid one off the glass to knot the game at 32-32 at intermission. Out of halftime, Cornell out scored Canisius 8-0 in the first 2:49 of the second stanza to jump out to a 40-32 lead, with senior Shonn Miller scoring five of those eight points, capped with a break-away dunk and a made free-throw with 17:11 left in the game.

Cornell led Canisius by as many as 10 points midway through the second half, but the Griffs were able to whittle that cushion down to six with 5:25 left in the contest when Crumpton drained a 3-pointer from the left wing. Cornell’s lead ballooned back to as many as nine points before Crumpton again got the Griffs within six at 61-55 with 2:44 remaining after he drilled another trey, this time from the top of the key. With 1:56 left in the contest, Crumpton’s two makes from the charity stripe made the score 61-57 in favor of Cornell, but that would end up being as close as the Griffs would get for the remainder of the night, as the Big Red went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in the game’s final 45 seconds, while Canisius went just 3-for-8 from the stripe in the game’s final minute of play.

“We missed too many lay-ups and too many free-throws tonight,” Canisius head coach Jim Baron said. “When you’re young and inexperienced like we are, you need to do the little things to win games, especially against teams that have upper classmen. We just need to keep working and keep get better. We forced them into 23 turnovers, but we only scored 18 points off those turnovers. We really need to make teams pay when they make mistakes.”

Cornell ended the night shooting 44.7 percent from the floor and 67.7 percent from the free-throw line. Miller had 10 points, seven boards and two blocks in the win for Cornell, while sophomore Darryl Smith chipped in 13 points. Canisius junior Jamal Reynolds led all players with nine rebounds, but Cornell ended up out-rebounding the Blue and Gold by a final count of 40-35.

Canisius will return to action Saturday, Nov. 29, when the team plays cross-town rival Buffalo in the second game of the Big 4 Basketball Classic, presented by The Buffalo News. Game time in First Niagara Center is set for 4:15 p.m. Game Notes: This was the 43rd all-time meeting between the two schools, with Cornell holding a 26-17 advantage in the series… Wednesday’s game was the first meeting between the Golden Griffins and the Big Red since the season-opener of the 2001-02 season… Crumpton is the fourth different Canisius player to lead the team in scoring this season… Williams has now scored in double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his Canisius career… Lewis matched a career-high with his four steals, and he’s now recorded multiple steals in all four games this season… Sophomore Phil Valenti played just 23 minutes and was late coming out of the locker room at halftime after receiving four stitches in his lip… The Griffs drew six offensive charges in the game, a season high.

Related for November 2014 :

News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

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Below, news and notes for Wednesday...

  • On tonight's game, the Buffalo News writes, "Canisius (2-1) is at Cornell (2-4) tonight at 7 in what is the first meeting since 2001.The Big Red has lost three straight heading into the game. Cornell leads the series record, 25-17. Canisius won the 2001 meeting, 65-48.  The Griffs have been able to defend the three-pointer well, holding opponents to .242 (8-of-33).Canisius is led by Zach Lewis (15.5 ppg.) and Phil Valenti (13.5 ppg.)."
  • The Elkhart Truth profiles Princeton recruit, Devin Cannady and mentions Cornell's Robert Mischler.

Related for November 2014 :

GAME PREVIEW CENTER: Cornell Big Red vs. Canisius, Wednesday, November 26, 2014 and at Binghamton, Saturday, November 29, 2014

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Get all the information you need about the Cornell Big Red's games vs. Canisius, Wednesday, November 26, 2014 and at Binghamton, Saturday, November 29, 2014, right here with The Cornell Basketball Blog's Game Preview Center.

As the games approach, we will be adding relevant links to this space. Let us know your thoughts on the upcoming games by either leaving a comment to this post, sending us an email (CornellBigRedFan@gmail.com), or posting a message on The Cornell Basketball Blog's Community Forum (click here, free membership).

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Canisius Athletics Game Notes for Visit to Cornell

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Game No. 4
Canisius at Cornell
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Ithaca, N.Y. | Newman Arena
Online Video: Ivy League Digital Network
Talent: Barry Leonard (p-x-p) and Eric Taylor (color)
Live Audio: 1230-AM/102.9-FM (Buffalo) & GoGriffs.com
Talent: Jay Moran (p-x-p) and Tom Smith (color)
Live Stats: CornellBigRed.com
Twitter: @Griffs_MBB | #Griffs; #RunWithUS; #MAACHoops
The Canisius men's basketball team closes out its three-game road swing tonight when the team plays at Cornell. This will mark the first time the Golden Griffins (2-1) have played Cornell since the season opener of the 2001-02 season.
FASTBREAK POINTS• Canisius closes out its three-game road swing this evening when the Golden Griffins travel to Cornell to meet the Big Red in Newman Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
• The Griffs are 2-1 on the season after falling to long-time rival St. Bonaventure by the score of 59-53 Nov. 22, in Olean, N.Y. That meeting between Canisius and St. Bonaventure was the 163rd all-time meeting between the two programs.
• Canisius senior Jeremiah Williams came off the bench and scored a career-high 14 points in the loss to St. Bonaventure. In that game, he knocked down four 3-point field goals and he also dished out two assists.
• Canisius returns five letterwinners and one starter from last year’s team that went 21-13 overall, 14-6 in MAAC play and earned a CIT berth for the second-straight year.
• Canisius graduated 77.6 percent of its scoring offense from a season ago, led by 2014 MAAC Player of the Year Billy Baron, who closed out the year ranked fourth nationally in scoring average at 24.1 points per game.
• The Griffs also lost 62.5 percent of their rebounding from a year ago, led by former Griff Chris Manhertz, who averaged a team best 6.9 rebounds per game in 2013-14.
• Tonight’s game marks the 43rd all-time meeting between Canisius and Cornell, but it is the first game between the two programs since Nov. 16, 2001.
BLUE COLLAR BLUE AND GOLD• Canisius head coach Jim Baron has said that his 2014-15 team will play with a blue collar mentality, especially on defense. His squad is backing up those words with their play on the floor.
• Through the first three games of the 2014-15 season, Canisius’ opponents are averaging just 56.7 points per game while shooting a combined 36.7 percent (55-for-150) from the floor.
• After giving up 59 points in a loss at St. Bonaventure Nov. 22, the Griffs have held their first three opponents to 60 points or fewer in the first three games of the season for the first time since 1950-51.
• The Blue and Gold leads the MAAC in scoring defense and starts tonight’s game ranked 42nd in the nation in points allowed.
• The 51 points allowed by Canisius’ defense in the win at Lehigh on Nov. 18 stand as the fewest points allowed by the Griffs in a road win since Jan. 15, 2011, when Canisius defeated MAAC-rival Manhattan 72-51 in Riverdale, N.Y.
TURNING DEFENSE INTO OFFENSE• Canisius head coach Jim Baron often talks about turning defense into offense - and the Griffs put that theory on display through the first three games of the 2014-15 season.
• The Griffs forced Vermont into 17 turnovers in the season-opener for both teams Nov. 15, the most turnovers for the Catamounts in a game since 2010-11. Off those 17 turnovers, Canisius was able to score 15 points.
• Through the first three games of the season, Canisius has totaled 38 points off opponent turnvers, which breaks down to 12.7 points per game.
SCOUTING CORNELL
• The Big Red comes into tonight’s game with a 2-4 record after falling to Drexel Nov. 23.
• Cornell has dropped three-straight games, but the team’s last two losses have come by a total of three points.
• Defense has been a calling card for Cornell so far this season, as the Big Red are holding opponents to just 38 percent from the floor.
• Senior forward Shonn Miller leads the Cornell scoring attack with his team-high 14.2 points per game. Miller is also good for 7.2 rebounds per game.
• The Big Red have four players averaging better than 11.0 points per game.
• Cornell is coached by Bill Courtney, who is in his fifth year as the team’s bench boss. He previously served as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech.• Cornell’s win over George Mason to start the 2014-15 season gives the Big Red program at least one win over 35 different schools that have earned a berth into the NCAA Final Four.

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Cornell Game Notes for Canisius and Binghamton

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GAME INFORMATION
Game #7: Canisius at Cornell
Tip off: Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2014-15 Records: Canisius (2-1, 0-0 MAAC); Cornell (2-4, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads 25-17
Last Meeting: Canisius won 65-48, Nov. 16, 2001 in Buffalo, N.Y.
Radio: 98.7 FM The Buzzer (Barry Leonard, Eric Taylor '05)
TV: N/A

Game #8: Cornell at Binghamton
Tip off: Saturday, Nov. 29, at 2:00 p.m.
Site: Events Center (5,142), Vestal, N.Y.
2014-15 Records: Cornell (2-4, 0-0 Ivy); Binghamton (1-4, 0-0 America East)
Series Record: Cornell leads 7-3
Last Meeting: Binghamton won 89-79, Nov. 10, 2013in Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: 98.7 FM The Buzzer (Barry Leonard)
TV: N/A

HEAD COACH BILL COURTNEY
Cornell head coach Bill Courtney is in his fifth season at Cornell (39-81, .325; 19-37 Ivy, .339) ... Courtney became the fifth Robert E. Gallagher '44 Coach of Men's Basketball at Cornell on April 23, 2010.
STORY LINES:
Cornell will look to build some momentum heading into the exam break when it meets a pair of Empire State rivals when the Big Red renews a longtime series with Canisius on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena, then visits Binghamton on Saturday, Nov 29 at 2 p.m. at the Events Center in Binghamton. The Canisius game will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network, while Barry Leonard and Eric Taylor '05 can be heard in the Ithaca area on 98.7 FM The Buzzer for both games. Live video from Binghamton is available at no charge on AmericaEast.tv.

The Big Red brings a three-game skid into Wednesday's contest with Canisius, including the last two losses by a total of three points. In fact, three of the Big Red's four losses have come by a total of eight points. Despite that, Cornell has played some excellent basketball as it looks to turn the page on last season's 2-26 record. The Big Red already owns a road win over George Mason, as well as its largest comeback win in more than 15 years in storming back to knock off Colgate. Cornell owned double figure second half leads in narrow losses to both Penn State and Drexel and is a handful of possessions from entering the week 4-2 or 5-1 instead of 2-4.
Cornell has already doubled its win total against Division I teams from a season ago and has the looks of a team on the rebound, playing suffocating defense (.380 field goal percentage defense, .317 3-point percentage defense, 65.0 ppg. allowed, 5.3 blocked shots per game) in its six contests. The Big Red has limited foes to under 40 percent shooting in four of its six games.

The biggest difference from last year is the return of first-team All-Ivy selection Shonn Miller, who missed the 2013-14 season with a shoulder injury. The 6-7 forward returned with a bang, recording 21 points and 13 rebounds in the upset of George Mason and collecting 20 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals at Loyola (MD). His season averages of 14.2 ppg., 7.2 rpg., 1.8 bpg. and 1.0 spg. make him an early contender for Ivy League honors.

Other big differences in Cornell's quick turnaround include the return of senior Galal Cancer (12.0 ppg., 3.2 rpg., 1.7 apg., 1.0 spg.) after a year away from basketball, the move of senior Devin Cherry to point guard (11.2 ppg., 5.8 rpg., 4.7 apg., 1.2 spg.) and the maturation of sophomores Robert Hatter (12.2 ppg., 3.0 rpg., 0.8 spg.) and David Onuorah (2.8 ppg., 5.5 rpg., 1.5 bpg.). A number of other players have added key minutes as reserves over the first six contests.

ABOUT CANISIUS:
• Canisius headed into a rivalry game with Big Four foe St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Nov. 22 with a perfect 2-0 record after beginning  the season with victories over Vermont (64-60) and Lehigh (63-51).
• The Golden Griffins have gotten it done thanks to its ability to defend the 3-point shot (opponents at .242, 8-of-33) and turn its opponents over (18.5 per game).
• Zach Lewis leads the way with 15.5 ppg., including hitting 6-of-16 from 3-point range. He is also averaging 2.5 steals per game.
• Phil Valenti (13.5 ppg., 6.0 rpg.) and Jamal Reynolds (10.0 ppg., 7.0 rpg.) are also averaging double figures in a balanced scoring attack.
• Head coach Jim Baron has won more than 400 games during stints at Saint Francis (PA), St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island and Canisius.
• Canisius returns five letter winners and one starter from last year's team that went 21-13 overall, 14-6 in MAAC play, and earned a CIT berth for the second-straight year.

THE CORNELL-CANISIUS SERIES:
• Cornell leads the all-time series 25-17, but the two teams haven't met since the 2001-02 season opener.
• Canisius won that meeting 65-48 despite a freshman record seven blocked shots from Chris Vandenberg '05, while Ka'Ron Barnes '04 scored 10 points in front of his hometown fans to kick off his sophomore season.
• The two programs first squared off during the 1914-15 season with the Big Red earning a 49-13 victory.
• Cornell and Canisius have only played four times in the last 25 years, topping the Golden Griffins 63-56 at home in 1992-93, dropping an 87-57 contest in Buffalo the following year, then Canisius winning a home-and-home series over 2000-01 (78-71) and 2001-02 (65-48).

CORNELL VS. METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE:
• Cornell is 61-52 all-time against current members of the MAAC, including 25-17 against Canisius.
• The Big Red has also played Fairfield (0-2), Iona (0-2), Manhattan (1-1), Marist (2-3), Niagara (27-20), Quinnipiac (2-2), Rider (3-0), Saint Peter's (0-2) and Siena (1-3).
• Cornell has never played Monmouth.
• This is the first of three games Cornell is scheduled to play against MAAC schools this season. The Big Red will visit Siena on Dec. 23, then host Saint Peter's five days later in Ithaca.

LAST TIME VS. CANISIUS:
• Canisius dominated the battle of the boards and placed all five starters in double figures as the Golden Griffins knocked off Cornell 65-48 in the season-opener for both teams on Nov. 16, 2001 at Koessler Athletic Center.
• The Griffs opened up a close game at the half with a 12-2 run to start the second stanza and cruised to the victory.
• Canisius out-rebounded the Big Red 47-28, including 17-7 on the offensive boards.
• Hodari Mallory led the charge with 14 points and five rebounds, while Jon Ferris and Toby Foster narrowly missed double-doubles, posting 12 points and eight rebounds and 10 points and nine rebounds, respectively.
• Sophomore Ka'Ron Barnes, playing in front of nearly 40 family and friends, had 10 points and three steals. Barnes, who starred at nearby Turner/Carroll High, also grabbed four boards.

A WIN OVER CANISIUS WOULD:
• improve Cornell's record to 3-4 on the season.
• make Cornell 2-0 at home to start a season for the first time since 2011-12.
• extend its lead in the all-time series against the Golden Griffins to 26-17.
• snap a three-game losing streak.
• be the 1,214th in program history (1,213-1,356 in 116 seasons, .473).

ABOUT BINGHAMTON:
• Binghamton brought a 1-4 record into a contest at Army on Nov. 25 after consecutive losses to Manhattan (78-63) and Navy (70-68) at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun, Conn.
• The Bearcats' lone win so far came in its only home game thus far, an 82-51 win over Division III Hartwick.
• Dusan Perovic (10.8 ppg., 2.8 rpg.) and Willie Rodriguez (10.4 ppg., 4.6 rpg., 2.0 apg.) are the lone double figure scorers for Binghamton.
• The Bearcats are shooting 39 percent from the floor as a team and 32 percent from 3-point range and are limiting opponents to 29 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
• Third-year head coach Tommy Dempsey returns four starters and eight letter winners from last season's 7-23 squad that went 4-12 in America East play.

THE CORNELL-BINGHAMTON SERIES:
• Cornell leads the all-time series 7-3, though the Bearcats won last season's meeting 79-77.
• The two teams first met in 1988 and have squared off every season since 2010-11.
• Cornell is 2-2 against Binghamton under head coach Bill Courtney.

CORNELL VS. THE AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE:
• Cornell is 19-23 all-time against current members of the America East, including 7-3 against
Binghamton.
• The Big Red has also faced Albany (2-3), Hartford (0-3), Maine (0-1), New
Hampshire (1-3), Stony Brook (4-4) and Vermont (5-6).
• Cornell has never played UMass-Lowell or UMBC.

LAST TIME VS. BINGHAMTON:
• Nolan Cressler scored 19 points and Devin Cherry added 17, but the Cornell men's basketball team wasn't able to hold on to a second half lead and Binghamton rallied for an 89-79 victory on Nov. 13, 2013 at Newman Arena.
• Joining Cressler and Cherry in double figures was senior guard Dominick Scelfo, while freshman David Onuorah notched nine points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.
• Cornell had 20 assists and just nine turnovers, but Binghamton turned the ball over just six times, held a decisive 27-9 edge at the line and connected on 56 percent of its 3-pointers (14-of-25), including an impressive 8-of-12 after halftime.
• The Bearcats had three players scored at least 23 points, as Marlon Beck (27 points), Jordan Reed (25 points, 14 rebounds) and Nick Madray (23 points) combined for 75 of the Bearcats' 89 points.
• Binghamton scored on each of its final 18 possessions in the game to rally from a 16-point deficit with 10 minutes to play.

NOTES TO KNOW:
• The Big Red is limiting opponents to 38 percent shooting over its first six games. In all, Cornell recorded a .495 field goal percentage defense mark in 2013-14 and allowed opponents to shoot 50 percent or better 15 times in 28 games. It has held three of its first five opponents under 40 percent shooting.
• Cornell hit 21-of-22 free throws against Penn State, a mark that ranks eighth all-time in a single game for the Big Red.
• Senior Galal Cancer connected on 12 free throws without a miss against the Nittany Lions, tied for the most free throws without a miss in a single game in Cornell history.
• The rally from a 17-point deficit against Colgate was the largest overcome by a Big Red team this century. It is the largest overcome by a Bill Courtney-coached team, besting the 14-point first half deficit it rallied from in a 85-84 win over Yale on Feb. 10, 2012.
• Senior Shonn Miller blocked a pair of shots against George Mason to surpass the 100 career block milestone. He became the fifth player in Cornell history to reach that plateau and now has 109 to his name.
• Senior Devin Cherry nearly secured a triple-double with nine points, 10 rebounds and seven assists against George Mason. No Cornell player has ever registered a triple-double in the program's history over a total of more than 2,500 games.
• With the win over George Mason, Cornell snapped a 17-game road losing streak and a seven-game skid overall.
• When Cornell knocked off George Mason, the Big Red defeated its 35th program that has advanced to an NCAA Final Four. The Patriots reached the national semifinals in 2006.
• Sophomore guard JoJo Fallas scored 27 points over the last four games (6.8 per game), including 7-of-13 from 3-point range. He entered the stretch with six career points and was 0-of-8 from beyond the arc.

LAST TIME OUT:
• For the second straight game, an outstanding first half defensive effort couldn't overcome a furious second half rally by the opposition as Drexel earned a late 61-59 victory over Cornell on Nov. 23 in the final game of the 2014 Gildan Charleston Classic at TD Arena.
• Senior Shonn Miller had 13 points and nine rebounds to lead the Big Red, while classmates Devin Cherry (11 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals) and Galal Cancer (11 points, four assists, three rebounds, three steals, two blocks) each added 11 points.
• Sophomore Robert Hatter was the team's fourth double figure scorer with 10 points, while David Onuorah had six points, five rebounds and a block.
• Cornell shot 45 percent and held the Dragons to 34 percent shooting overall, but that number was 52 percent after the break.
• Drexel got 28 points, seven rebounds and three assists from Damion Lee, though the team's leading scorer was held to 9-of-24 shooting.
• Lee was the lone double figure scorer, though Rodney Williams had nine points and 14 rebounds, including seven big offensive boards.
• The Dragons outscored the Big Red 9-2 on second chance points and 19-8 off turnovers.

NEXT UP:
• Cornell visits Central New York foe Binghamton on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. before returning home to meet UMass-Lowell on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 4 p.m. at Newman Arena.

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News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

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Below, news and notes...


With season tickets sales this year running consistent with last year's figures, Syracuse would appear to have a lock on the 2015 attendance title. And the Orange's first two home games bear that out.  Syracuse drew 22,833 fans for its opener against Kennesaw State. That number was lower than the 2013-14 opener when Syracuse beat Cornell in front of 24,788 fans.
Cornell dropped all three of its games in the Charleston Classic to take eighth place in the event. The Red (2-4) lost to South Carolina (2-3) on Thursday, Penn State (4-1) on Friday and Drexel (1-4) on Sunday.
On Thursday, Cornell started the tournament off strong against the Gamecocks, connecting on its first four shots of the evening. In the first five minutes, the Red took an 11-9 lead. South Carolina’s star guard Sindarius Thornwell hit a three to give the Gamecocks the lead and from then on South Carolina never looked back. Cornell began missing shots and turning over the ball and five minutes later the score was 22-11 in favor of South Carolina.
Because of sloppy ball-handling by the Red, the Gamecocks had a 14-point advantage at the end of the first half. The Red had 13 turnovers and just one assist in the first half.
South Carolina started the second half with a 13-4 run and cruised to a 69-45 victory, at one point taking a 28-point lead over the Red. The 45 points scored by Cornell were a full 13 points below its previous season low. The brightest spot of the day may have been sophomore guard JoJo Fallas, who knocked down all four of his shots, including three three-pointers. He led the Red in scoring with 11 points.
Galal Cancer was the only other Red player in double digits, scoring 10, although it took him 13 shots to do so. After a hot start in the first two games of the season, senior forward Shonn Miller was held to below 10 points for the second straight game.
Overall, the Red shot a meager 29.6 percent from the field. The team was out-rebounded by 12 and out-assisted by 10.
Cornell seemed to have improved in Friday’s game against Penn State. Thanks to a balanced scoring attack, the Red took a 10-point lead early on against the Nittany Lions. Throughout the entire first half, Cornell seemed in charge. Four separate plays scored six or more points for the Red in that first half and the team as a whole shot 43 percent, including five of 11 from beyond the arc.
The Nittany Lions came out firing in the second half and quickly cut the lead to one. Sharp three-point shooting from the Red extended the lead back up to 11. Within six minutes, that lead also evaporated and Cornell maintained a slim lead for the next several minutes.
With 53 seconds left, a turnover by Devin Cherry caused a fast break attempt for Penn State. David Onourah sprinted down the court and blocked D.J. Newbill’s lay-up attempt off the glass. Cherry got the rebound and took the ball coast-to-coast and scored on an acrobatic lay-up, giving the Red a two-point advantage with just 44 seconds remaining in the game.
On the next Cornell possession, Robert Hatter was purposely fouled and sunk both free throws. Newbill countered with a pull-up jump shot. Cornell was fouled again, this time sending Galal Cancer to the line; he converted both shots. Geno Thorpe finished at the rim for Penn State, cutting Cornell’s lead to two with 16 seconds left to play. Cancer was again fouled and made both free throws.
On the next possession, Miller blocked Jordan Dickerson sending the ball directly to Penn State’s Ross Travis. Travis quickly passed to John Johnson, who knocked down the three-pointer, bringing the Nittany Lions within one point of the Red with four seconds to go.
Miller tried to inbound the ball after a timeout, but his pass, a lazy toss to half court, was stolen by Shep Garner, who then passed to Newbill. Newbill blew past Cornell defenders and scored the game-winning lay-up as time expired. He finished with a game-high of 26 points.
For the Red, Cancer and Hatter led the charge with 17 points apiece. Cancer converted all 12 of his free throws. Overall, the Red shot 95 percent from the charity strip. Miller had 15 and Cherry scored 11 points, and also had seven rebounds and six assists, both team-highs.
The loss sent Cornell to the seventh place game against a winless Drexel squad. In the beginning of the contest, the Red was dominant on defense. Cornell’s pressure held the Dragons to just 17 points on 18% shooting in the first half. The strong defensive performance allowed the Red to take a nine-point advantage into the break, despite a lackluster offensive showing, in which the Red shot 38 percent.
Cornell extended the lead to 14 early in the second half, but Drexel clawed its way back and tied up the score with eight minutes left to play in the game.
From that point on, it was the Damion Lee show. Lee, a 6’6” guard averaging 19 points per game, scored or assisted 15 of the Drexel’s final 20 points. He finished with 28 points, including 24 in the second half.
Cornell continued to try to extend its lead, but every time the Red made a shot, the Dragons answered with a made field goal of their own. Eventually, Rashann London made a jump shot that gave Drexel the lead with a minute and 35 seconds left in the contest. Cornell turned the ball over on two of its next three possessions and the Dragons held on to win, 61-59, taking seventh place in the Charleston Classic.
After starting the season by playing six games in 10 days, the Red continues its packed schedule of games with a home matchup against Canisius College (2-2) on Wednesday at 7 P.M.
...Penn State was outplayed by Cornell but stole the win, forcing a turnover on an inbounds pass that led to Newbill’s game-winning layup at the buzzer.
It brought back memories of Penn State’s 66-65 win over Indiana in February.
The Hoosiers turned it over on back-to-back inbounds plays in the final 15 seconds before a game-winning drive by Tim Frazier.
“That situation kind of came to my mind while that game was happening,” junior forward Donovon Jack said. “We were in so many close games last year, bringing back a lot of veteran guys, we kind of had been there before, kind of knew what to do.”
Penn State trailed Cornell 71-70 with 4.8 seconds left.
Shonn Miller lofted an inbounds pass beyond halfcourt. When Garner grabbed the loose ball, his first instinct was to look to score.
But when he saw Newbill open, he got him the ball with more than two seconds left.
“The kid takes two dribbles — he’s a freshman, any kid in America would have pulled up for a 35-foot 3 — but he didn’t,” Chambers said.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/11/24/4476003_penn-state-mens-basketball-nittany.html?sp=/99/146/&rh=1#storylink=cpy
DJ Newbill hit a game winning layup against Cornell on Friday night as Penn State beat the Big Red 72-71.
But he doesn't remember it. 
The play lasted just over four seconds -- the final four seconds of regulation.
With no timeouts, Cornell was forced to throw the ball into play, landing at half court. Penn State freshman Shep Garner picked up the loose ball, passing it back into the offensive end of the court to a wide open DJ Newbill on the left wing. A drive, a layup and a victory was all that was left.
"I didn't know what was going to happen," Newbill said on Monday. "I saw him steal the pass and I'm like 'what's going to happen next?' (Garner) looked up and we made eye contact and he threw it and I had to shoot fast. I had to look on the camera (afterwards) to see what really happened."
What is perhaps so amazing about Penn State's win was not that the Nittany Lions pulled out the victory, but that in the span of so few seconds so many good decision were made. From the defense on the inbound, Garner's pass and Newbill's decision to take the ball to the hoop, one weak link and Penn State would have been in a much different situation.
"My first thought was taking the three," Newbill said. "I don't know, I can't really tell you what happened in that moment. Everything happened so fast. One moment I'm face guarding my man, the next moment the ball is in my hands and I'm swinging baseline going in for the layup. ... I knew I had time for one, two, dribble and a shot ... they had a small lineup in, that's really why I wanted to take it to the basket. The big man jumped out on me and once I swung through I was going to go up strong and pray for the best."
But even as Newbill will be remembered for the basket, what impressed the fifth year senior wasn't his own play, but that of the freshman only four games into his college basketball career. 
"For a young guy like that to hit his captain, that shows what kind of guy he is, that he had that composure. You could tell he had been in that moment before. I mean, me as a freshman I probably would have taken the shot full court." Newbill said with a smile and a laugh.
And that kind of shot almost happened according to his counterpart.
"When I first got it I thought score," Garner said on Monday inside the Jordan Center. "And then I saw DJ almost wide open with a clear lane to the basket with two seconds left. So I thought, I'm gonna give it to him because I know he's going to score it for us. It ended up being the biggest play of the game."
That's safe to say.
Even if Penn State "shouldn't" have won that game on Friday night, it was a notable moment for a team that has seen so many potential victories evaporate in the final minute of play. There have been so many losses by 5 points or less that most of the team has lost count.
There are a lot of different reasons why those losses happened. Some were very much the doing of the Nittany Lions. But on a night when a loss was there to be had, Penn State made the winning play that had so frequently doomed them.
While living life on the edge is the recommended route to victory, learning how to steal a game is a skill worth having.
And for once it worked for the Nittany Lions, not against them.

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