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.
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