ITHACA, N.Y. — Sophomore Gabe Stefanini scored a team-high 18 points as the Columbia men's basketball team took a lead in the final minutes of Saturday afternoon's Ivy League opener at Cornell. However, his free throw to potentially send the game to overtime with 3.5 seconds left rimmed out as the Big Red held on, 60-59, at Newman Arena.
Columbia (5-10, 0-1 Ivy) rallied back from as many as 18 points down in the second half to take the lead courtesy of a 13-0 run. Stefanini hit the final three shots of that run and put the Lions on top for the first time all game, 58-57, on a step-back jumper from the right baseline with 2:31 to play. Cornell (9-8, 1-0 Ivy) regained the lead on its next possession when Jimmy Boeheim connected from long range.
The Big Red missed the front ends of two separate 1-and-1 opportunities in the final 30 seconds to give the Lions a chance. Columbia turned it over the first time but Stefanini got to the stripe with 3.5 seconds left and a chance to tie. He sank the first but watched as his second fell off the rim. Sophomore Randy Brumant was able to grab the offensive rebound but his putback was no good as the horn sounded.
Stefanini's 18 points came on 8-of-18 shooting to go with five boards and a team-high three assists. Senior Quinton Adlesh scored 10 points off the bench and first-year Ike Nweke grabbed a team-high six boards.
Senior Matt Morgan led Cornell with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a 4-for-9 showing from 3-point land to go with a game-high five assists. Josh Warren collected a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds while senior Steven Julian also went for 10 on the glass.
The Lions outrebounded Cornell, 36-32, and outscored the Big Red, 30-14, in the paint. They also outshot the Big Red 45.5 percent to 34.8 percent in the second half to rally back.
Cornell extended its 14-point halftime lead to 18 when Morgan drove and scored at the 13:03 mark. The Lions chipped away slowly at first, using a 7-2 spurt sparked by a Jake Killingsworth triple to make it a 52-39 game with 10 minutes to play.
The big run began with 7:40 to go on junior forward Patrick Tapé's lone bucket of the afternoon to trim the gap to 11. First-year Maka Ellis scored on the next possession and the run was on. Senior Peter Barba swished home a 3-ball at the 6:27 mark and Columbia scored on its fifth consecutive shot attempt when Adlesh connected inside to pull the score to 57-52. A two-minute scoring drought by both teams ended when Stefanini scored six straight to put Columbia on top.
The first half was all Cornell. The Big Red scored the first 14 points while Columbia started 0-for-8 from the field to fall behind early. The Lions got on the board when Adlesh scored at the 12:45 mark but Cornell kept running, hitting 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the opening 12 minutes to race ahead, 23-8.
Columbia pulled back to within eight in the first half following back-to-back threes by Ellis and sophomore Tai Bibbs. Ellis banked his home before driving inside to make it an eight-point game again with 3:39 to go until the half. Morgan scored eight points in the final 2:13 for Cornell, including a jumper at the buzzer, to put them up 39-25.
Columbia will look to return the favor next Saturday in New York when the Big Red visit Levien Gymnasium. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the game set to air live on SportsNet New York (SNY).
POST-GAME NOTES
- Gabe Stefanini notched his seventh double-figure scoring game of the year and first since Dec. 9 against Iona at Madison Square Garden.
- Quinton Adlesh ran his double-figure scoring streak to 10 straight games. He's reached double figures in 13 of 15 games this season.
- Saturday's game marked the second straight at Newman Arena to be decided by one point. Cornell squeaked out that one too, 82-81, last January 27.
- Columbia remains ahead in the all-time series, 129-102.
