Brown led by as 15 points in the second half and held on late despite a furious rally to capture a 78-74 on Saturday evening at Newman Arena. The loss ruined Cornell’s perfect home record this season and snapped an 11-game home win streak for the Big Red on Senior Night. Cornell (20-5, 9-2) remains in a tie for first place in the Ancient Eight with Princeton and Yale, both winners on Saturday evening. Brown improved to 9-17 (5-6 Ivy) and remains in fourth place in the jockeying for the final position in Ivy Madness.
Seniors Sean Hansen (16 points, four rebounds) and Chris Manon (10 points, five rebounds, three assists) led four double figure scorers in their final game at Newman Arena, with Isaiah Gray added nine points, five rebounds and three assists. Guiy Ragland Jr. (11 points) and Nazir Williams (10 points) also hit double figures for the home team.
Kalu Anya posted 23 points and 17 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass, for a Brown team that held a 19-8 edge in second chance points. Adding a second double-double was Nana Owusu-Anane with 15 points and 13 boards, while Kimo Ferrari notched 13 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals in the win. The Bears held a 45-36 advantage on the backboards and turned the ball over just nine times in sweeping the weekend and remaining in pole position for the fourth and final spot in the Ivy Tournament.
Brown jumped out to a 7-0 lead less than two minutes in before Sean Hansenscored five straight playing with senior teammates Boothby, Darius Ervin, Max Watson and Evan Williams in the starting lineup. A 3-pointer by Watson gave Cornell a short-lived 8-7 lead, but a 10-0 spurt by the Bears made it 17-8. After flirting with a one-possession deficit much of the next five minutes, Cornell finally leveled the game at 30-30 on a three-point play by Nazir Williams with 4:55 left before halftime. A Hansen free throw with nine seconds before the half sent Cornell into the locker room trailing 43-41 and with some momentum.
Like the first half, Brown extended its lead with a quick 6-2 run to go up six. Cornell clawed back to 51-49 on a Hansen trey, but it was quickly downhill from there. A 14-3 Brown run capped by consecutive buckets by Aaron Cooley and Ferrari pushed the advantage to 65-52 with 11 minutes remaining and ultimately went to 74-59 with under five minutes remaining.
That’s when Cornell made its final push.
A 12-0 Big Red run that included a pair of inside buckets by Ragland and a 3-pointer by Noard, got the home team within 74-71 with 1:14 remaining.Brown missed 2-of-3 free throws in the next 20 seconds, but Cornell missed a pair of field goals and two free throws trying to cut into the lead further, and Brown salted the game away with three free throws in the final 23 seconds to hand Cornell its first loss at home this year.
Next Up
• Cornell will hit the road for its second and final Ivy League back-to-back when it visits Penn on Friday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Palestra.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• The Big Red will be looking for its first win in Philadelphia since 2013 and its first season sweep of the Quakers since 2011.
• Cornell won the first meeting between the teams 77-60 on Jan. 20 at Newman Arena.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].