Box Score Box Score
VERMILLION, S.D. -- On a night when the offense wasn't crisp and their legs may not have been totally under them, the Cornell men's basketball team's defense pulled the Big Red through an important 71-65 victory over a determined South Dakota squad on Friday evening at the DakotaDome. The win improved Cornell to 13-3, while the Coyotes slipped to 6-8.
Senior Louis Dale had 19 points and three assists, while classmate Ryan Wittman notched 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Alex Tyler and Geoff Reeves each had nine points and Jeff Foote recorded four points and 12 rebounds. Jon Jaques made all three of his shots, including both 3-pointers, for eight points and Mark Coury grabbed five rebounds. As a team, the Big Red made 12-of-12 from the free-throw line and limited the home team to 40 percent shooting overall and 29 percent from beyond the arc. The Big Red outrebounded USD 41-35 and had 14 assists and just 11 turnovers, but hit just 40 percent of its shots from the floor.
South Dakota got 17 points, five rebounds and three assists out of Jake Thomas and 12 points apiece from Roman Gentry and Tyler Cain. Cain added nine rebounds, four steals and a pair of blocked shots. The home team piled up nine steals and four blocked shots, but still lost its fourth straight.
South Dakota set the tone early with two steals and a 3-pointer from the 6-11 Smith, but Cornell quickly answered with a 5-0 run to take the lead. Not to be outdone, the Coyotes scored 11 straight, including a second trey by Smith to go up 14-5 and later extended the edge to 21-10 with its fifth 3-pointer of the first eight minutes. The Big Red missed a half dozen open shots, including four in a row during the run, but continued to get good looks.
The Big Red got back in the game behind seven straight points by Wittman to get within 26-24. A Jaques 3-pointer from the corner cut the deficit to 28-27 with 4:24 left, but Thomas hit an off-balanced jumper from the free-throw line and was run into by Reeves. The three-point play made it 31-27 inside of four minutes remaining before halftime. Another Jaques trey made it 31-30, then a three-point play by Dale on an acrobatic layup gave Cornell its first lead since 5-3 with 1:43 left in the half at 33-31. A long trey by Wittman put the Big Red up five with 30 seconds left, and Cornell was able to get a defensive stop to send the team into the break with a 36-31 edge.
Wittman saved the Big Red offensively, scoring 14 points, while Dale had eight to go along with two assists. The Big Red outrebounded USD 21-17 and locked down late, limiting the Coyotes to just 3-of-16 (.188) after the home team came out smoking, making 8-of-12 (.667) out of the gates. Thomas matched Wittman with 14 at the break.
The home team wouldn't go away to start the second, knotting the game at 36-36 and 40-40 before Cornell went on a 9-0 run with four different players hitting the scoring column (Tyler, Foote, Reeves, Jaques) to make it 49-40, causing South Dakota to use a timeout. South Dakota clawed its way to within two (54-52) before Dale answered the bell. He nailed a 3-pointer to extend it to five, then went around Cain for a layup after a Wittman steal.
The teams traded baskets between six and four, with Jaques getting a crucial charge call defensively with just under two minutes left. Dale drew a foul on the other end and kept Cornell perfect at the line (8-of-8) to go up 67-61. South Dakota again answered with a tough leaner by Kendall Cutler with 1:23 left, then stole the ball and got two free throws on the other end to get to 67-65 with 49 ticks left. Wittman missed a jumper, but the rebound went off of the Coyotes with 25 seconds left, giving the ball back to the visitors with the shot clock off. Wroblewski was fouled and hit all of the rim on the first shot of his 1-and-1, then drained the second to make it 69-65. The defense then forced an airball defensively and Wittman rebounded it underneath the basket, where he was immediately fouled. The senior drained both with eight seconds left to provide the final margin.
Cornell closes out the non-conference schedule when it faces Clarkson on Monday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena at Bartels Hall. It will be the 11th meeting between the programs, with Cornell winning each of the first 10 matchups.
