The Cornell men’s basketball team got 71 points from its bench, assisted on 31 baskets and shot 61 percent from the floor in a 107-86 victory over Morrisville State on Wednesday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red’s 2-0 start is its second in the past three seasons.
Freshman Jacob Beccles scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and added two rebounds and three assists in his first collegiate action, while Chris Cain netted 12 points and three blocked shots off the bench. Rounding out four double figure scorers were the sophomore combination of Cooper Noard (13 points, seven rebounds) and Adam Tsang Hinton (11 points, three steals). The Big Red connected on 14-of-34 3-pointers on the night and collected 12 steals while outscoring Morrisville 58-34 in the paint.
The Big Red’s 31 assists tied for the second-most in a game in school history, while the 107 points stands tied for ninth. The team’s 43 made field goals ranks tied for fourth, while its .614 field goal percentage and 14 made 3-pointers rank 17th.
Along with the double figure scorers, Sean Hansen scored eight points with six rebounds and three steals, Chris Manonposted eight points with three assists and two steals and Keller Boothby netted eight points as well. Isaiah Gray notched seven points and four assists, Guy Ragland Jr. had five points, seven rebounds and six assists in 12 minutes of action. Freshmen Jake Fiegen (five points) and Ian Imegwu (two points) scored their first varsity points in the win.
Morrisville, which started the game trailing 19-2 just five minutes in, had three double figure scorers led by Brandon Kulakowski’s 15 points. Daiman Miller (13 points) and Jakhi Lucas (11 points, five assists, four steals) also kept the visitors in the game. After hitting 12 3-pointers and posting 18 assists while shooting 46 percent from the floor and 40 percent from beyond the arc, Morrisville never let the game get out of hand despite Cornell’s scoring pace.
Cornell led almost completely from wire-to-wire, scoring three seconds into the contest right off the jump ball and pushed the lead to as many as 29 points midway through the second half. Cornell shot an incredible 18-of-19 from inside the arc in the first 20 minutes (95 percent) in taking a 60-42 lead at the break. Overall, Cornell was 29-of-36 for the game from two-point range (81 percent).
The Big Red led by as many as 20 in the first half, but aftet building a 17-point edge in the opening minutes, saw the lead dwindle to eight at 46-38 before extending it by the break. Though Cornell was never threatened, the visitors went shot-for-shot with the home team much of the second half.
NEXT UP
• The Big Red will visit Fordham on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. at Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx, N.Y.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ and SNY.
• The Rams won 25 games a season ago (25-8) under head coach Keith Urgo.
• The all-time series between the teams is tied 4-4, though the last meeting came during the 1979-8 season when the Rams topped the Big Red 81-41 in the Bronx.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].