• Photo Gallery (Days 1 & 2)

MADRID, Spain -- In its first two days in Spain, the Cornell men's basketball players walked in the footsteps of kings and effectively brushed off the ill-effects of overseas travel. And, not inconsequentially, won its first game under head coach Brian Earl.

Cornell suited up Thursday evening against Eurocolegio Casvi, a team that had already defeated Arkansas (81-75) and led by 14 over Purdue before falling (80-71) during tour season, and emerged with a 67-52 victory.

The Game vs. Eurocolegio Casvi
Cornell raced out to a big early lead, let ECC back into the game going into the half and then relied on suffocating defense after the break on its way to a 67-52 win. The Big Red forced the home team to miss its first 21 shots of the second half, including all 17 field goal attempts in a third quarter where they were held to two points.

Cornell shot 52 percent from the field and limited Casvi, two days removed from a win over Arkansas with the same roster, to 27 percent shooting. All 14 players who dressed for the Big Red saw first half action with 13 getting into the scoring column.

Rising sophomore Matt Morgan led both teams with 19 points and rising senior Robert Hatter had 10 points and seven rebounds, while Stone Gettings, JoJo Fallas and Joe Bayless each had six points and two rebounds, with Gettings adding three assists and two steals.

Cornell shook off any rust with a quick 8-0 run to open the game in the first 90 seconds, forcing an ECC timeout. Morgan hit a pair of triples sandwiched around a short David Onuorah jump shot.

The Big Red never trailed in the first half, though a 3-pointer at the buzzer cut Cornell's halftime lead to 33-32. After Casvi took its first and only lead of the night 14 seconds into the second half on a pair of free throws, the Big Red defense took over. The home team missed 17 straight shots to end the quarter and didn't make a field goal until 2:24 had run off the clock in the fourth - after missing its first four field goal attempts in the final stanza. By that time, Cornell had raced out to a 15-point edge (50-35). The lead grew to as many as 19 points in the final minutes.

The Tour, Days 1 & 2
After a day of travel from Ithaca to New York City, followed by an overnight flight to the capital city of Madrid, Cornell men's basketball landed on Wednesday morning ready for a full day of recovery and adjustment to the Central European Summer time zone.

A panoramic bus tour of the city began the day, with the team seeing a number of central squares and making a stop at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the home of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. The home of the second most valuable sports team in the world, Santiago Bernabéu seats more than 85,000 fans, with dozens milling around the stadium hoping to get aglimpse of training or to buy a home kit from one of the nearby shops.

The Big Red headed back to the hotel for a short break, then did a team stretch to keep the group from a prolonged sleep.

A second opportunity to rest came before heading for a spanish meal of tapas, steak and a desert of mixed fruits.

Thursday's second day featured the team's first contest under first-year head coach Brian Earl, but began with a traditional spanish breakfast in buffet form and continued with a tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid. Only used now for state ceremonies, the impressive palace features 3,418 rooms - only about a dozen the Big Red had the ability to visit. Many rooms were decorated with frescoes and paintings by the Spanish masters and ornate decorations and finishes. Among the sights was the world's lone complete Stradivarius string quartet, estimated to be worth roughly $150 million.

What's Next?
Cornell heads to the second leg of its three city tour by way of Toledo. The Big Red will play its second game of the trip in Valencia.