Box Score Box Score
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior Mark Coury hit a 10-foot jumper on an inbounds play as the shot clock expired with 35 seconds left and Cornell held on for a 74-72 victory over Penn on Saturday evening at the Palestra. Coury ended the night with 13 points, matching a career high, as the visitors improved to 8-18 (4-8 Ivy). Penn slipped to 12-13 (6-5 Ivy) with the loss on Senior Day.
Coury made 5-of-7 shots from the floor and added three rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal in 22 productive minutes off the bench. He was a large part of the reason Cornell shot 52 percent from the floor overall and held Penn to 42 percent shooting. He was one of three players in double figures for Cornell, as Drew Ferry scored 11 and Errick Peck notched 10. Chris Wroblewski was the key distributor, dishing out 11 of the team's 25 assists (on 28 baskets) and turning the ball over just once. The 25 assists ranks third in a single game in Cornell history. Max Groebe, Anthony Gatlin and Adam Wire all had eight points as 10 different players scored.
Penn got 23 points, four assists and three steals from freshman Miles Cartwright, while Zack Rosen posted 22 points. Tyler Bernardini scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds, but shot just 5-of-16 from the floor in the loss. No other Penn player had more than four points. In all, Cornell's bench outscored Penn's 49-20 and limited Penn's All-ivy candidate Jack Eggleston to two points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Nine different players scored for the Big Red in the first half with Peck leading the way with eight. Cornell made 7-of-12 shots from downtown in the first half en route to its 12-point lead (39-27). Wroblewski distributed the ball around with five assists and no turnovers, while Groebe hit a pair of tough treys for the Big Red, who shot better than 50 percent from the floor overall in the half. Wire chipped in six points and three rebounds.
Cornell extended the lead to as many as 15 in the second half, and it looked as though the Big Red might fall prey to another close loss at Cartwright hitting a floater in the lane with 1:14 left to give the home team a 69-68 lead, erasing the entire deficit. That came just a minute after Ferry sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key to extend the Cornell lead to four, and Rosen answered with a trey of his own.
Coury's bucket made it 70-69, and Eggleston missed a 3-pointer on the other end that was rebounded by Wroblewski. The junior hit both free throws to make it a 72-69 Cornell lead, but this time Cartwright drove on Peck and lost the ball out of bounds. Johnathan Gray was fouled on the inbounds and made the first of two free throws with 10 seconds left to put the Big Red up four. Rosen calmly drained a trey with five ticks left, but Wroblewski nailed the first of his two ensuing free throws to push the lead back to 74-72. An 83 percent free throw shooter for his career, Wroblewski missed the second, but Bernardini's long desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell just short.
Cornell will look to end the season strong beginning on Friday, March 4 when it plays host to Brown at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena.
