Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – Louis Dale scored 23 points in just 22 minutes to lead Cornell to a 90-58 victory over Brown on Friday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red (13-7, 3-0 Ivy) extended its Ivy league win streak to 18 games and its winning streak at Newman Arena to a school record 16 games. Brown fell to 6-11 (0-3 Ivy) with the loss.

Dale, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, hit on 9-of-11 shots overall and added five assists and four rebounds. Joining him in double figures was Ryan Wittman with 13 points and Chris Wroblewski with 11. The Big Red shot 54 percent from the floor, including 57 percent in the second half.

Peter Sullivan had 15 points and four rebounds to lead the Bears, who shot 42 percent overall. Matt Mullery added 14 points and six rebounds.

Cornell dominated the backboards (43-25) and nailed 11-of-22 shots from 3-point range in picking up the victory. In all, 15 different players scored, including senior Adam Gore, who played his first game after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament just four and a half months ago. The two-time All-Ivy League pick had three points, two rebounds and an assist in 10 minutes.

The Big Red got a solid all-around effort from Jeff Foote (eight points, nine rebounds) and Alex Tyler (six points, five rebounds) down low, while Geoff Reeves and Adam Wire spearheaded the defense on Chris Skrelja, Brown's point-forward. Wire had four points, three rebounds and three steals in 11 disruptive minutes. Brian Kreefer was also exceptional in a reserve role with four points, five rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes. 

Brown got off to a good start, keeping the Big Red within arms reach for the first 10 minutes and gaining a five-point lead early (14-9) a little more than five minutes in as part of a 12-2 run. Scott Friske led the way with six points and an assist, but would only score two points the rest of the way. The Big Red regained the lead for goof at 15-14 on a jumper by Dale, who took over in his matchup with Adrian Williams in a battle between two of the top scoring guards in the Ancient Eight. On the following possession, Dale hit a step-back 3-pointer and it was all but over. When it was all over, Cornell had gone on a 14-0 to turn a five-point deficit into a nine-point lead in the span of five minutes. 

A layup by Matt Mullery over Foote cut the Cornell lead to 23-16, but this time Dale found Wittman for a trey to push the lead to 10 and the Bears wouldn't see a lead of less than 10 the rest of the way. A dunk by Adam Wire on Dale's fourth assist of the half made it 34-20 with 2:28 left and the lead grew to 18 on consecutive baskets by Dale, Foote and Jason Battle. Only a late Brown 3-pointer by Mullery would close the gap to 40-25 at the break.

Mullery's 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting was the lone bright spot heading into the locker room for the Bears, who were outrebounded 23-10 and made just 1-of-7 from 3-point range. Dale's stat line at the half was an impressive 13 points, five assists and four rebounds in 15 minutes of action. He was joined by eight points from Wittman as eight different players hit the scoreboard.

The second half quickly got away from the Bears, as the Big Red hit the visitors with a wave of players. A 10-4 run boosted the lead over 20, and it methodically built to as much as 37 points. The highlight of the second half came when Gore buried a 3-pointer from just right of the top of the key with 7:22 remaining, earning a second standing ovation. He also received one when he checked into the contest 3:31 into the game as the first Big Red player off the bench. Late buckets by Conor Mullen and Aaron Osgood also got the crowd on its feet, as did a perfectly executed alley-oop pass from Mullen to a flying Andre Wilkins to cap the scoring with under a minute left.

Cornell returns to action tomorrow against Yale at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena. The Bulldogs dropped a 53-42 decision at Columbia on Friday night after starting the Ivy League season 2-0.