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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Penn's Miles Cartwright banked in a 3-pointer as the first half horn went off following a Big Red inbounding turnover in its backcourt to send the Quakers into halftime with a 50-32 lead on Friday evening at the Palestra. It was a symbolic ending to the first 20 minutes.

Nearly the opposite transpired in the second half. Cornell made shots, dominated the glass and forced the Quakers into a number of turnovers, but Penn's lead was too much to overcome as the home team held on for a 90-83 victory. Penn improved to 5-13 (2-2 Ivy), while the Big Red fell to 1-18 (0-5 Ivy).

The future looked bright, as three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior did much of damage in the final 20 minutes. Sophomore Nolan Cressler scored 22 points and grabbed five rebounds, junior Devin Cherry had 15 points and eight rebounds and freshmen David Onuorah (11 points, nine rebounds) and Darryl Smith (15 points) each set career scoring bests in the loss. Rookie Robert Hatter also had nine points, three rebounds and three assists.

Cornell shot 51 percent from the floor and got back within five with possession in the final seven minutes, but couldn't chip away any further. The Big Red held a 36-29 edge on the glass and a 16-5 edge on the offensive boards. No matter the numbers, the visitors couldn't overcome one Penn statistic – its 61 percent shooting from the floor.

Tony Hicks scored 27 points and added seven assists, Miles Cartwright added 19 points and five assists and Fran Dougherty notched 17 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double. Darien Nelson-Henry chipped in eight points and six boards as the Quakers evened their Ivy record.

Cornell spent the entire second half clawing away with pressure and speed, as well as a strong 22-12 edge on the glass (12-2 on the offensive end). The Big Red finally got back to single digits when Cressler hit a straightaway 3-pointer with 12 minutes to play, forcing a Quaker timeout. The visitors got within five points on four occasions, including with six minutes to play. After a Penn missed free throw, the Big Red committed a turnover in the backcourt and the Quakers' Steve Rennard made a steal and layup to push it their lead to seven. That would be as close as Cornell would get again until Robert Hatter's putback with two seconds remaining.

The Quakers spent much of the first half shooting in the 80 percent range as it built an 18-point lead at the break by banking in a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Penn went into the locker room up 50-32, though its shooting percentage dipped to 65 percent at the break. Miles Cartwright scored 15 points and Tony Hicks had 13 at the break and the backcourt combo combined to shoot 12-of-18 from the field. Penn did their damage despite hitting on just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, that one being the banked in shot at the horn.

Cornell heads to Princeton tomorrow to face the Tigers at 6 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium. Both teams will be looking for their first Ivy win of the season after Columbia dropped the Tigers 63-62 earlier this evening. You can watch the game live on the Ivy League Digital Network.