ALBANY, N.Y. -- A dominating defensive effort and a pair of 20-point scorers lifted Cornell to its fourth win in five games, running away from Siena after halftime for a 75-57 victory on Tuesday evening at the Times Union Center. The Big Red gave senior Galal Cancer an early Christmas gift in a return to his hometown while improving to 6-5. Siena fell to 3-7 with the loss.

Two days after scoring a career-high 28 points, Miller scored 26 points and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds to lead the Big Red. Sophomore Robert Hatter also scored 21 points, including hitting 12-of-13 from the free-throw line. As a team, Cornell hit an impressive 25-of-28 from the charity stripe.

It wasn't as impressive as the team's defensive effort.

Cornell held Siena to 31 percent shooting overall, including 27 percent after halftime, and 25 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (5-of-20). The Saints turned the ball over just 10 times, but the Big Red made them pay when they did, scoring 15 points off the miscues. After struggling on the offensive end over the first 20 minutes, Cornell improved upon its defensive effort while hitting 64 percent of its shots after halftime, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc after going 0-for-6 in the first half.

Cancer, playing in front of family and friends in the arena where he won a state title at Christian Brothers Academy, had five points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot in just 14 minutes before fouling out. Devin Cherry and Darryl Smith chipped in seven points apiece.

Siena got 18 points from Evan Hymes, while Javion Ogunyemi had 12 and Ryan Oliver notched 10. Leading scorers Rob Poole (2-of-12 shooting) and Marquis Wright (1-of-5 shooting) were held to just six points each, with Miller doing a lion's share of the work on Poole and both Hatter and Smith defending Wright.

Nothing in the first half, with the exception of Cornell's defensive intensity, hinted at the run the Big Red would put on Siena after the break. Sloppy play, including five turnovers in the game's first four minutes and nine total in the half, allowed the home team to build an early six-point lead at 20-14 after Rob Poole converted a three-point play with 9:28 left in the half. Cancer, meanwhile, scored the first five points of the night for Cornell before sitting down less than six minutes in.

The Big Red came roaring back, evening the game a minute and a half after Poole's and-1, regaining the lead as part of a 9-0 run that included seven points from Miller, including the tying and go-ahead baskets, the latter a three-point play. The teams traded leads the rest of the way, with the Big Red taking a 27-26 edge into the break when freshman Pat Smith, who less than a minute earlier had his number called for the first time, hit a driving layup for his first varsity points.

Miller opened the second half with an NBA 3-pointer to push the lead to four, and after Oliver answered with a layup to get back within two, Cornell methodically built its lead. A pair of Darryl Smith free throws made it a nine-point game, Cherry hit a 3-pointer to go up nine and force a Siena timeout and Hatter's layup on a feed from Cancer made it an 11-point game. By the time Hatter hit four consecutive free throws after a Siena foul and technical arguing the call, the Big Red led by 15 with 10:21 remaining.

Siena never got within single digits the rest of the way.

Cornell ran succinct, effective halfcourt offense while draining the clock in the final six minutes, repeatedly getting good shots after getting defensive stops on the other end. The Saints made just three field goals in the final nine minutes, and Cornell scored following each Siena basket, not allowing the nearly 6,000 fans at the Times Union Center to get their team back in the game.

Cornell will take a short break from competition before it returns home to face another MAAC school in Saint Peter's on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 4 p.m. at Newman Arena. The Peacocks lead the all-time series between the schools 2-0.