Box Score Box score

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Jeff Foote set a career high with 25 points, including 16 in the second half, as Cornell rallied from a 14-point second half deficit to knock off La Salle 79-70 on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Big Red evened its record at 5-5 on the season. La Salle dropped to 5-5 with the loss.

Foote made 8-of-14 shots from the floor and 9-of-12 from the charity stripe as Cornell gutted out the victory, outscoring their Atlantic 10 foe 52-32 after halftime to snap a three-game losing skid. Ryan Wittman chipped in with 18 points, while classmate Louis Dale had 14. The Big Red shot just 44 percent from the floor, but limited the Explorers to 43 percent shooting and forced 18 La Salle miscues leading to a decisive 23-7 edge in points off turnovers.

La Salle got 18 points and 12 rebounds from Kimmani Barrett to lead four in double figures, wuth Rodney Green adding 12, while Jerrell Williams and Ruben Guillandeaux posted 11 each. The visitors held a 38-31 edge on the backboards.



Showing the rust of a two-week layoff, the Big Red saw itself trailing 5-0 before finally getting on the board at the 16:30 mark on a dunk by Foote. The Explorers wouldn't surrender the lead at all during the first half, as the visitors built the lead to 21-14 on a jumper by Green midway through the half. Wittman got the Big Red right back, hitting a long jumper and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions, then finding junior Pete Reynolds in transition for a layup with 6:51 left after stealing a pass by Jerrell Williams, one of his 10 turnovers on the day. Another steal from WIlliams, this time by Adam Wire, led to a layup by Tyler that knotted the game at 23-23 with 6:02 left.

Green came down the other way and knocked home a triple to ignite a 15-4 Explorer run to end the half over the final six minutes. Guillandeaux hit for five points during the run, and only a Foote blocked shot as time expired kept the game within 11 at the break.

La Salle shot 52 percent in the first half and knocked down 5-of-7 3-pointers (71 percent), but committed twice as many turnovers as the Big Red (7-3). Foote scored nine points to keep the home team in the game, while Wittman and Dale combined to shoot just 4-of-13 for nine points combined. Barrett had 11 points and eight rebounds, all on the defensive end, in the first 20 minutes.

Cornell opened the second half strong on the defensive end after three early inside buckets by Jerrell Williams put the Explorers up 14 (42-28) with 18:28 remaining. From there, it would be all Cornell.

A long trey by Dale started what would turn out to be a 51-point explosion in the final 18 minutes. A conventional three-point play by Wittman continued the charge, followed by a fastbreak dunk by the Big Red's seven-foot center who outran the Explorers down the court after a missed La Salle 3-pointer. A bomb from Wittman cut the lead to five, and consecutive post scores by Foote brought the deficit to one. Geoff Reeves gave Cornell its first lead ofthe game with a touch running bank shot to make it 47-46 with 11 minutes left.

For much of the next eight minutes it was back and forth, and Foote continually answered La Salle scores with baskets of his own as the Big Red made a point of getting it to the big man. His aggressiveness started getting him to the line, and his two free throws with 2:49 left snapped the ninth tie of the second half to make it 67-65, a lead Cornell wouldn't relinquish. 

After Green made the second of two free throws for the Explorers to cut the lead to two with 2:24 left, Wittman made the game's biggest play. After getting trapped along the baseline, he whipped a crosscourt pass between two defenders to Reeves who spotted up in the left corner. The junior confidently stepped int othe shot and extended the lead to five. From there, it was all Cornell at the free-throw line, burying all eight of its shots from the stripe in the final two minutes to snap a three-game losing streak overall and give the Big Red its first win in the game immediately after finals break since knocking off Lehigh 69-61 during the 2001-02 season.

Cornell closes out play before Christmas with a road game against Saint Joseph's on Monday, Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Palestra. It will be the second consecutive game against an Atlantic 10 opponent from Philadelphia.