Final: Cornell 87, Penn 74

Penn made it somewhat respectable with a nice run midway through the second half. But the explosive Big Red offense proved to me too much to handle for the Quakers. Cornell’s players are enjoying the moment with their fellow students by throwing T-shirts into the stands. I bet Penn can’t wait to leave this state.

2nd Half, 43.8: Cornell 83-74

Grandieri cut it to single digits again with a “lucky” three pointer that be banked in from the wing. But Cornell built its lead with a pair of Dale free throws and to add insult to injury, Schreiber doinked a wide-open dunk, drawing more than a few jeers from the crowd. Penn is in foul mode now.

2nd Half, 2:14: Cornell 81, Penn 69

Never mind that whole comeback idea. All of a sudden the Big Red are back out to a double-digit lead and NOW this one is over. The real dagger came with a step-back three-pointer from Adam Gore.

2nd Half, 3:57: Cornell 74-69

Penn is starting to make me look bad as it has stormed back into this game in the last few minutes. Jack Eggleston brought Penn within 3 with a big three-pointer off a fastbreak pass from Gaines. Wittman answered with a huuuge three for the Big Red to give them a small cushion going down the stretch. The Penn press has been causing real problems for Cornell’s ball handlers.

2nd Half, 5:18: Cornell 71, Penn 64

Don’t warm up the bus back to Philly just yet. Thanks to an athletic tip-in from Schreiber and a tough jumper from Gaines, Penn is within single digits for the first time in a while. Gaines then stole the inbound pass following a Cornell timeout and hit two free throws to make it a seven point game. Penn has brought on the press and caused two Cornell turnovers since the timeout.

2nd Half, 7:48: Cornell 69, Penn 57

The Quakers are showing signs of life after a Grandieri three knocked the lead down to ten. After the teams traded baskets, Louis Dale hit yet another mid-range jumper.

2nd Half, 10:01: Cornell 65, Penn 50

Any hopes that tonight would be different from last night are quickly fading away. Jason Hartford’s three was a dagger even though we have ten minutes to go and without Tyler Bernardini here, Penn’s offense is simply not explosive enough to come back from this.

2nd Half, 11:23: Cornell 59, Penn 48

Alert! Ryan Wittman finally missed a 3, but Penn hasn’t capitalized. Harrison Gaines brought Penn within six with a n and-one drive and layup following some nice ball movement. The Big Red have rebuilt their lead thanks to some offensive rebounding and their ability to get to the line. By the way, the atmosphere here is pretty electric. The Cornell fans know that a change of guard in the Ivy League is at stake.

2nd Half, 15:47: Cornell 52, Penn 41

Wittman continued his three-point barrage to give Cornell a double digit lead. Brian Grandieri answered for Penn off a short jumper from an inbound play, but Louis Dale is proving tough to guard by the Penn D as he hit a smooth mid-range fadeaway.

2nd Half, 17:36: Cornell 47, Penn 39

Remy Cofield brought Penn within two after hitting a three from the corner to open the half. But Cornell quickly built their lead after Ryan Wittman got free off curls and hit back-to-back quick release 3’s.

Halftime: Cornell 41, Penn 36

After an embarrassing loss to Columbia last night, Penn has surprisingly kept it close. Andreas Schreiber is playing with supreme confidence inside and Harrison Gaines is showing his talent with some sweet moves and jumpers. Penn is doing a much better job defending the 3 than it did last night in Manhattan.

Louis Dale has been the most productive force for Cornell and he also is also leading the team in rebounds despite his 5-11 frame and thanks to his “Vince Carter-like hops” according to a fan behind me. We’ll see if Penn can stay in the game the rest of the way.

1st Half Stats:

Leading Scorers: Penn - Andreas Schreiber (14), Cornell - Louis Dale (12)

FG %: Penn - 15-30 (50%), Cornell - 12-25 (48%)

Rebounds: Penn - 17 (6 offensive), Cornell - 14 (3 offensive)

Assists: Penn - 8, Cornell - 9

Turnovers: Penn - 7, Cornell - 3

Rob Gross here finally in Ithaca for the Penn-Cornell contest. Due to some technical difficulties we were unable to bring you first half updates. Stay tuned for first half stats and updates throughout the second half.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 8:49 pm and is filed under Game Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.