Box Score Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior Jeff Foote was head and shoulders above the rest, dominating the paint in limited minutes as Cornell won its 11th straight contest, an 73-49 New Year's Eve victory over Division III Penn State Behrend on Thursday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 11-2 with the victory, while the Lions slipped to 5-3.

Foote hit 10-of-12 shots from the floor for 22 points and added seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in just 16 minutes of action. Max Groebe (15) and Ryan Wittman (10) were also in double figures for the home team in a contest where minutes were evenly spread out among the entire roster. Cornell was again without starters Louis Dale and Alex Tyler due to injury, but they weren't needed in improving to 2-1 at home this season and matching the school's best-ever start after 13 games. Jon Jaques added nine points and starting guards Chris Wroblewski and Geoff Reeves combined for 11 assists and just two turnovers in the victory. Freshman Eitan Chemerinski scored his first two career points and classmate Pete McMillan saw his first career playing time in the victory.

In all, Cornell shot 56 percent from the floor and connected on 11-of-24 from 3-point range (46 percent). Cornell assisted on 19 baskets and outrebounded the smaller Lions 36-27.

Penn State Behrend was game all evening, cutting a 30-point deficit to as little as 19 with under three minutes to play, hanging around with a strong effort on the offensive glass. PSUB had 13 of its 27 total rebounds on the offensive end, including four by Nick Colella. No player hit double figures, but three had at least seven points, led by nine from Adam Kaiser. Russ Conley had eight points and five rebounds, while Colella had seven and five. THe visitors shot just 34 percent overall.

The Lions jumped out to a 5-1 lead after Saltzman buried a 3-pointer just 1:15 in. The Big Red quickly answered as Foote used his considerable height advantage to back down his opponent for three straight buckets to take the 7-5 lead. After PSUB knotted the game at 7-7, consecutive 3-pointers by Wittman and Jaques put Cornell up 13-7, a lead it would only build on. Another Foote basket, this time on a nice find from Reeves, set up Cornell for a conventional three-point play. The senior went into double figures 4:20 into the contest and put the home team up 16-7. The Big Red made six of its first seven shots overall to set the tone.

Cornell started going to the bench five minutes in and spread out the minutes, building the lead to 11 by the second media timeout. A scrappy job by the Lions on the offensive glass, picking up its first five boards there, gave the visitors some needed extra chances to hang around. Cornell extended the lead out to as many as 21 in the first half behind a hot hand from Max Groebe, who connected on his first four 3-point attempts to establish a new career high.

The visiting Lions used some late 3-point shooting and a short corner jumper from Nick Dvorsky in the final seconds to get back within 14 (40-26) at the break. Cornell shot 58 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes and sank 7-of-14 from beyond the arc, with Foote scoring 12 points, grabbing four rebounds and blocking two shots in just eight minutes of action. Groebe chipped in with 12 points, while Wittman had seven. No Lion player had more than six points in a balanced effort, with Adam Kaiser adding two rebounds, an assist and a steal to his two 3-pointers. Penn State Behrend shot 37 percent from the floor (10-of-27) by halftime.

Cornell opened the second half with more intensity, getting a pair of defensive stops on one end, with Foote directing traffic on the offensive side. The senior scored on another post-up, then hit Jaques in the corner for his third 3-pointer of the game, forcing a Lions' timeout just 1:31 into the second half. The lead grew to as many as 31, but the Lions wouldn't go away. Though not threatening to overtake Cornell, they continued to chip away at the lead until a late Big Red run pushed the advantage back to more than 20 late.

The Big Red will open up 2010 at home when it faces Bryant on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall.