Box Score Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Reigning Patriot League Player of the Year C.J. McCollum hit his first two 3-pointers of the season in the second half, the last with 1:03 remaining on the clock for the go-ahead basket, to help defending conference champion Lehigh to a 60-57 win over defensing Ivy League champ Cornell on Monday evening at Stabler Arena. Cornell fell to 2-3 on the season, while the Mountain Hawks improved to 2-2.
McCollum ended the night with 20 points, 13 rebounds and four steals as the only Lehigh player in double figures in scoring as the Big Red defense held the Mountain Hawks to 30 percent shooting overall and 26 percent from beyond the arc. The home team's 30-10 edge in free-throw attempts made up the difference, as Cornell hit 10 treys in the loss.
Chris Wroblewski posted 14 points and four assists, while Drew Ferry notched 10 points, three assists and two steals for the Big Red. Errick Peck and Josh Figini each scored eight points, but Cornell committed a season-high 21 turnovers, including 14 in the first half alone. The Mountain Hawks also won the battle of the boards 40-36, including 16 big offensive rebounds.
The Big Red defense was again suffocating, but ending possessions with a defensive rebound continued to be a stuggle. Lehigh's starting backcourt shot just 2-of-15 from the floor, while McCollum was just 6-of-19.
Nothing went right for the Big Red in the first 20 minutes, as Cornell shot just 8-of-27 with 14 turnovers in the first half alone. Entering the game, the Big Red had a season high of 15 in a contest. Only the Big Red's strong defense allowed the visitors to stay with signle digits at the half. Cornell limited the Mountain Hawks to 8-of-24 shooting (33 percent) and 1-of-6 shooting from 3-point range (17 percent). Cornell was called for 12 fouls (5 vs. Lehigh) and attempted just two free-throws to 16 for the home team.
A pair of Big Red substitutes kept Cornell in the contest offensively, with Ferry hitting 3-of-5 shots for seven piints to go along with an assist and a steal, and Figini hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points in eight minutes. Cornell did hold a 20-16 edge on the backboards.
McCollum had eight points, five rebounds and two steals in the first half, while Jordan Hamilton scored seven points by hitting all three of his field goal attempts. Lehigh's starters were jusut 3-of-18 from the floor.
Lehigh used Cornell's uncharacteristically poor ball security to their advantage, leaping out to a 14-5 lead on the strength of nine Big Red turnovers in the first eight minutes. Ferry tried to get the Big Red ball rolling with consecutive baskets to get back within 14-9, but six straight points by the Mountain Hawks extended the lead to 20-9 11 minutes in. The Big Red offense couldn't get on track, as the turnover count had grown to 11 by the under-eight minute media timeout.
A 3-pointer by Figini, followed by a second less than a minute later, cut the deficit to 20-15. A third consecutive trey, this time by Ferry, caused Lehigh to burn a timeout with the lead down to 20-18 and 6:18 remaining in the first. Lehigh used more Big Red turnovers and a stagnant Cornell offense to extend the lead back to seven by halftime (30-23) by scoring the last four points of the half after the visitors had climbed back to with 26-23 with 2:49 left on the clock.
The Big Red missed its first shot of the second half, but Wire grabbed the offensive board and was fouled, burying both free-throws. That set the tone for the second half. A pair of Wroblewski 3-pointers, the second after Lehigh lost him in the corner on an inbounds, got Cornell within 32-31, but Ojo immediately answered it with a corner trey of his own to push the Lehigh lead back to 35-31.
Wire tied the game with a corner 3-pointer, Cornell's ninth of the game, to make it 41-41 with 13:52 remaining in the second half. The 10th of the game, a deep Wroblewski trey from 25 feet out top, gave Cornell its first lead (44-41) about a minute later. When Wroblewski found a streaking Coury after Gatlin's second block of the game for a layup, the Big Red took a 48-43 lead forcing a Mountain Hawk timeout with 10:32 remaining.
That layup by Coury would be Cornell's last basket until Errick Peck hit a nice driving layup on the baseline with 2:24 remaining, a span of 8:08 without making a shot. THat Peck layup gave Cornell a 53-52 edge, its last lead of the game. A pair of missed Lehigh shots turned into offensive rebounds, and a third chance put the ball in Gabe Knutson's hands. The starting forward hit the second of two free throws to knot the game, and after a missed shot in the lane and a turnover on consecutive possessions by the Big Red, McCollum hit the go-ahead trey. A pair of layups in the final minute were sandwiched around made Mountain Hawk free throws, giving Cornell a last shot at evening the game. Max Groebe's first attempt rimmed out and went to the wide right corner, where Drew Ferry picked it up and launched a desperation shot that hit the front of the rim and went off to give Lehigh the victory.
Cornell returns to action after the Thanksgiving holiday when it faces Boston University in Boston on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. at Case Gymnasium.
