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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Columbia senior Mark Cisco and Brian Barbour combined for 34 points and the Lions' offensive execution in the second half propelled the visitors to a 67-58 victory over Cornell on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Lions improved to 9-6 (1-0), while the Big Red slipped to 8-10 (0-1 Ivy) in the Ivy League opener for both teams.

Shonn Miller led the Big Red with 13 points to go along with four rebounds, three steals, a blocked shot and an assist, while Nolan Cressler had 11 points and four rebounds off the bench. Johnathan Gray rounded out Cornell's double figure scorers with 10 points. Senior post players Josh Figini (eight points) and Eitan Chemerinski (seven points, six rebounds) fell just shy of double figures. The Big Red outrebounded Columbia 31-25 despite the loss.

Barbour ran the show for the Lions, scoring 16 points, while Cisco scored 18 to go along with nine rebounds, most on dump-off passes in the lane from Barbour or freshmen Grant Mullins or Isaac Cohen. Mullins added 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Cohen notched four rebounds and seven assists. The Lions made 11-of-18 shots after halftime (61 percent) to finish at .535 for the game. Columbia assisted on 16 baskets while turning the ball over just 10 times, right in line with their season average.

The game featured 13 lead changes and seven ties, but Columbia finally took control of the game with a 13-0 run over 4:30 that featured three dump-off passes to Cisco, two for layups and another for a 10-foot jumper from the corner. Barbour immediately went down and scored after a Shonn Miller basket had put the home team up 43-42 with 12:37 left to help the Lions regain the lead. Cohen then found Cisco for a layup and Mullins hit Steve Frankoski for an open 3-pointer. After a Big Red timeout, Cohen again for Cisco for a layup and Mullins scored inside, followed by the freshman finding Cisco open for another jumper.

The closest Cornell would get in the final seven minutes was eight points.

The first half was played with great pace on both ends, with Columbia taking a 34-31 edge into the locker room.Cressler scored all 11 of his points in the first half, including knocking down 3-of-5 3-pointers. Gray added seven points for the Big Red, who came out strong early, taking a 9-4 edge into the first media timeout. The Lions quickly settled in, evening the score with a 5-0 spurt and it went back and forth much of the first half. Mullins put Columbia up five (34-29) with under a minute to play in the half, but Gray worked himself into the lane for a basket to cut it to three, and the Big Red got a great defensive stand in the final 20 seconds to go into the break down just three points.

The two teams will meet each other again next weekend when the Big Red makes the return trip on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.