Box Score Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior Kareem Maddox, one of the leading candidates for the 2010-11 Ivy League Player of the Year, made two huge plays in the final minute as Princeton escaped Newman Arena with a 57-55 victory over Cornell on Saturday evening. The win kept the Tigers in first place, improving to 19-4 (7-0 Ivy), while the Big Red slipped to 6-16 (2-6 Ivy).

Maddox tied the score with just under two minutes to play in the second half, then hit the go-ahead jumper on a broken play with 10 seconds to play. The senior then made his own bucket stand up, blocking what appeared to be a game-tying putback attempt by Mark Coury with two seconds to play, His block was scooped up by Big Red junior Drew Ferry, whose 3-point attempt was just left as the horn sounded. The 6-8 Maddox finished the contest with a game-high23 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots, as well as three assists and a steal in 35 minutes. He hit on 8-of-10 field goals from the field and 7-of-10 from the free-throw line. He was the only Tiger in double figures.

Cornell placed three in double figures, with junior Chris Wroblewski leading the way with 14 points, four assists and four steals. Errick Peck had 13 points and two blocked shots and Mark Coury notched 10 points, six rebounds a block and a steal. As a team, the Big Red forced 18 Tiger turnovers and picked up 11 steals. Defensively, Cornell limited the Tigers to 1-of-8 from beyond the arc and held the team's top two scorers, Ian Hummer and Dan Mavraides, combined to shoot just 1-of-9 from the field for six points.

Johnathan Gray had a solid noght off the bench for Cornell with nine points, three rebounds and three assists, while Josh Figini had a great energetic performance with seven points, three rebounds and two steals in 13 minutes of action.

The ending was a highlight, but not the only highlight, of a game that see-sawed back and forth all evening. The Tigers controlled the first half, but never led by more than six as the scrappy Big Red kept it close. Coury hit a pair of jumper in the final four minutes of the half to get Cornell within two, but a little jumper by Brendan Connolly made the halftime lead four for the visitors.

The second half seemingly belonged to Cornell, who was the aggressor, but Princeton answered every big play with a momentum-stopping one of its own. A layup by Wroblewski and a 3-pointer by Figini opened the second half to give Cornell the lead less than two minutes into the second half. A banked 3-pointer by Gray as the shot clock expired made it 34-32 Cornell. The Big Red lead grew to as many as six (40-34) on a vicious dunk by Peck with 12:23 remaining. A 10-2 Tigers run reclaimed the lead for the Ivy leaders, with five points coming from Maddox. The lead traded hands four more times over the final 10 minutes, with the Big Red taking its last lead on a pair of free throws by Wroblewski after an emphatic blocked shot by Peck on Maddox kept the game knotted at 53-53. Princeton was able to claw out the win with its play in the final two minutes.

Cornell returns to action on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. when it plays host to Harvard at Newman Arena.