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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Cornell held off a hard-charging Drexel team with a composed effort in the fina ltwo minutes to complete a 4-0 record at the Legends Classic with a 61-54 win at Drexel on Sunday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The Big Red improved to 5-2 with the win.
Senior Ryan Wittman, the most valuable player of the regional, scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Jeff Foote had 15 points and five rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. Mark Coury had eight points and four rebounds off the bench and Chris Wroblewski had seven points, including five big ones in the closing minutes. Joining Wittman on the all-tournament team was senior Jon Jaques. The tri-captain played a key role in the victory over the Dragons. In 15 minutes of action, he had a rebound, two steals and two gigantic free throws to seal the game with 21 seconds left.
Drexel overcame a 14-point deficit to take a lead late in the second half, but could not close out the win. Jamie Harris had 15 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Gerald Colds notched 14 points and four assists. Samme Givens posted 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench. The Dragons shot 68 percent from the floor after halftime despite some strong Big Red defense. Cornell forced 18 turnovers and held Drexel to 33 percent shooting overall.
The Big Red jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind three points early from both Wittman and Dale before the Dragons got on the oard with a free throw by Colds two and a half minutes in. Foote hit a pair of free throws to extend the advantage to 8-1. A Coury reverse made it 10-1 heading into the first media timeout. The Cornell defense forced the Dragons to miss its first two shots and turn the ball over four times in six possessions. Another Coury basket underneath made it 12-1, and a 3-pointer by Reeves from straighaway made it 15-1, forcing a Drexel timeout with 12:44 remaining in the half.
The home team's first field goal didn't come until the 12:15 mark when Harris hit a short jumper in the lane to make it 15-3. After missing its first eight to open the contest, Colds made it two straight when he sank a trey from the left corner to cut the deficit to 17-6, triggering a 10-2 Drexel run to get back within 19-13 with eight minutes left in the first half. A backdoor pass from Wittman to Coury settled the Cornell offense down, and a putback by Coury pushed it back to 23-15.
Cornell went cold offensively, but the defense and rebounding consistently kept the Big Red in control. The Dragons had 10 turnovers and were shooting just 33 percent from the floor at the final media timeout of the half and the Big Red had attempted 12 more shots than the home team. Wittman broke a nearly four minute scoring draught for both teams with a 3-pointer and had a tip-in a minute later to make it 28-17. A Wittman jumper in the lane with two seconds left before the half pushed him into double figures and sent the visitors into the break with a 30-19 edge.
Wittman hit for 10 points, while Coury notched eight for Cornell, which limited the Dragons to 33 percent shooting overall and 12 turnovers. Cornell only hit at a .375 clip itself, but outscored the Dragons 11-0 on points off turnovers.
Foote got off to begin the second half, scoring on a pair of nice post moves to neutralize baskets by Drexel, but the Dragons were able to start making shots. After turning the ball over at a high rate, the home team was able to make tough shots in the lane to methodically cut the lead to five.
Once the Dragons got it back to two, Cornell repsonded like the veteran team it is. Dale found Wittman for a layup underneath and the senior was fouled, completing a three-point play to make it 39-34. Drexel cut it to two at 40-38 with the ball, but a tough shot was rebounded by the Dragons and Wittman nailed a trey from the top of the key, his second of the contest, to make it 43-38 20 seconds later. Another basket by the Dragons was answered by Wittman finding Reeves in the corner for three more to pushed the edge back to six. it got down to one (48-47) and eventually took its first lead of the game at 54-52 when Derrick Thomas hit a wide open jumper from the right corner with 2:05 left, but Chris Wroblewski calmly sank behind a screen on the Big Red's ensuing possession and nailed a 3-pointer to put Cornell back up one with under two minutes to play. The Cornell defense forced a turnover with 1:14 left, and after showing some nice ball movement, Dale found Foote underneath for a layup with a minute to play to give the visitors a three-point cushion (57-54).
Drexel found Colds for a 3-point attempt that rimmed out and Coury rebounded with just under 30 seconds left and immediately fouled, but Drexel wasn't yet in the bonus. Cornell was able to run eight more seconds off the clock before senior tri-captain Jon Jaques stepped to the free-throw line for a 1-and-1 with 21 seconds left. The senior scored his first points of the season by making both to go up five (59-54). Drexel turned it right back over and Wittman drilled a pair of free throws for the final margin.
The Big Red will conclude its stretch of seven road games in its first eight contests when it travels to Bucknell on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.
