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ITHACA, NY – The expectation entering the season would be that nearly every Ivy League game would be a war. In this game, a fullcourt bomb helped awaken the Big Red offense.

Cornell earned a split of the season series with Columbia with a 65-60 win at Newman Arena on Saturday evening. The Big Red improved to 7-11 (2-2 Ivy), while the Lions slipped to 12-8 (1-3 Ivy) with the loss.



Senior guard Chris Wroblewski paced three Big Red players in double figures with 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including a 4-for-6 effort from the 3-point line. Wroblewski also dished out a game-high five assists and added seven rebounds and two steals. His fullcourt, one-handed heave just after the buzzer seemed to awaken the Big Red fans and appeared to be the symbolic moment when the senior co-captain launched himself out of a season-long shooting slump.

Cornell also got 14 points from junior guard Johnathan Gray and 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals from freshman forward Shonn Miller. The Big Red shot 42 percent from the floor and limited the Lions to 37 percent shooting, including a miserable 4-of-22 from beyond the arc (18 percent).

Brian Barbour had a team-high 19 points and added five assists for the Lions, while Mark Cisco had his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Alex Rosenberg rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points.

Cornell held just a 60-59 lead with 1:49 left to play before putting the game away by shooting 5-for-6 from the foul line in the last 1:40. Gray shot 4-for-4 during that span. Following a 30-second timeout with 11 seconds to play. Columbia's Brian Barbour missed a 3-pointer that would of tied the game at 63 with three seconds left. The Big Red rebounded and Gray nailed consecutive charity shots to put the game out of reach.

Wroblewski wowed the crowd of more than 4,100 with a length of the court 3-pointer at the end of the the first half that came just after the buzzer. Cornell rode the momentum after the break to turn a 30-23 lead into a 14-point bulge with a 17-10 run to open the second half. Columbia was able to even the score at 56-56, but Cornell never trailed in the final 28 minutes.

Much like a week ago in New York City, the home team took control midway through the first, ran out to a double figure lead and looked poised to collect an easy win. Then the visitors made a run, getting right back in it, only to see the home team grab control of the momentum again in the final minutes in front of a vocal crowd to earn a hard-fought win.

Such is the history with Cornell-Columbia basketball.

The Big Red started a lineup with four guards and center Eitan Chemerinski and succeeded in neutralizing Mark Cisco, who ripped the Big Red for 18 points and 20 rebounds a week prior. Though Cisco continued to dominate the backboards with seven in the first seven minutes and nine before the break, Cornell was able to successfully speed up the Lions, who ended the half with eight turnovers while making just 29 percent of its shots (7-of-24).

The second half saw the Big Red really open it up, scoring 17 points in the first 4:47 to extend the lead to 47-33 after the last of three straight 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. Gray's two treys were sandwiched around one by Max Groebe. The Lions methodically cut into the lead and even appeared to take a lead on a made basket by Rosenberg, but the freshman was instead called for a charge with 6:42 left on the clock. A minute and a half later, John Daniels tied the game on a tip-in, but the game's sixth tie would only last for 17 seconds, long enough for Cornell's Miller to pull through, get into the lane and hit an acrobatic running layup to give the Big Red the lead it would never relinquish.

Six times in the final five minutes, the Lions attempted a shot to tie or take the lead, but missed each attempt. Cornell played brilliant defense on Barbour's game-tying attempt with less than five seconds to go and rebounded the miss to even the team's record in Ivy play.

Cornell returns to action when it heads to Harvard on Friday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass.