Box Score Box Score
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- In a sloppy game played by two teams bordering on exhaustion, the All-Ivy connection of Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote proved too much as Cornell claimed an 82-72 victory over Loyola (MD) on Tuesday afternoon at Boston College's Conte Forum in the consolation round of the NIT Preseason Tip-Off's East Regional. The win improved Cornell to 2-1, while Loyola fell to 1-3.
Loyola was playing its fourth game in five days and the Big Red was playing its second game in 19 hours after falling to St. John's in a physical contest on Monday night. That didn't slow down Wittman or Foote, however. Wittman scored a game-high 24 points and added four rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the Big Red, while Foote posted 19 points, eight rebounds and a career-best seven blocked shots in the victory.
Foote and Wittman had plenty of help in leaving Boston College with a win in its pocket. Junior Alex Tyler chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds and Geoff Reeves notched 12. In his first collegiate start, freshman Chris Wroblewski scored four points, grabbed four rebounds and had six assists in 30 minutes of action. The Big Red limited the Greyhounds to 37 percent shootingand dominated Loyola on the backboards 50-36. Cornell also won the hustle plays, blocking nine shots, making eight steals and grabbing 21 offensive rebounds. Five of those offensive rebounds were credited to sophomore Adam Wire, whose energy in the first half allowed the Big Red to take an 11-point lead at the break (36-25).
Tony Lewis scored 23 points and had eight rebounds to pace the Greyhounds, with Brett Harvey had 18 points, including 11 in the final 2:21 of the contest. Isaac Reid also scored 13 points to go along with his eight rebounds. Brian Rudolph had nine points, seven assists and four steals in the loss.
The Big Red got out early, grabbing the lead for good when Wittman hit a trey three minutes into the game to make it 5-4. That started a 15-4 run that included the Wittman 3-pointer, a shot from Reeves from beyond the arc and a conventional three-point play by Jason Battle, who had six points and three rebounds off the bench, That leasd would grow to 11 at 23-12 on consecutive baskets by Foote and Tyler. Loyola answered with a 10-2 run to get back within three as Cornell missed five shots and had three turnovers in an eight possession span. Tyler finally got the designated home team out of its funk by hitting two 12-foot jumpers from nearly the same spot on the floor. When Wittman was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with three mninutes left and followed with a running jumper, the lead was safely back to eight (32-24). Wire sparked Cornell during its offensive slump with six rebounds, including five on the offensive glass, and two steals.
Despite shooting just 35 percent in the first half, Cornell took an 11-point lead into the break on the strength of its rebounding numbers (29-18). Wittman had 10 points and Tyler added eight to pace the Big Red.
Head coach Steve Donahue's team controlled much of the first 15 minutes of the second half, holding a double figure lead through much of that span. Tyler's first of two free throws gave the Big Red a 15-point bulge (52-37) with 10:37 to play. That was when Brett Harvey got hot, hitting three consecutive treys to get the Greyhounds back within six (73-67) with 1:39 left in regulation. Cornell hit its free throws down the stretch, connecting on 7-of-8 shots from the charity stripe, while Foote also had a follow-up dunk in the final minute to seal the win.
The Big Red returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. when it meets defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Siena at the Times UNion Center.
