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NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Cornell used a 15-1 first half run to take control of the game and held on late against a relentless Lion squad to earn a hard-fought 66-63 win over Columbia in a sold-out Levien Gymnasium on Saturday evening. The win imrpved Cornell to 9-10 (1-1 Ivy), while the Lions slipped to 9-7 (1-1 Ivy).

The victory, Cornell's fourth straight on the road, came in large part due to the play of its bench. The Big Red held a domininat 45-19 edge in scoring from their reserves, including a career-best 19 points from sophomore Galal Cancer. Cancer added five rebounds, three assists and outstanding defense on Columbia leading scorer Brian Barbour, who scored 15 points bu shot just 5-of-17 from the field. Overall, Cornell limited the Lions to 36 percent shooting overall and 31 percent from 3-point range. It attempted 12 more free throws, held a 37-34 rebounding edge and turned the ball over just 11 times.

In other words, all the things a team typically needs to do to win on the road.

Along with Cancer, who made 11-iof-12 free throws, including two with four seconds to play, senior Josh Figini also came up big off the bench. Figini scored 12 points, had four rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal in 29 minutes. He was pressed into extended action, 29 minutes, in part due to Eitan Chemerinski coming down sick. The senior was able to play just four minutes, a short stint at the beginning of both halves.

Just missing a double-double and affecting the game throughout was sophomore Shonn Miller, who had nine points, 11 rebounds and a key second half blocked shot with two minutes remaining that would have potentially tied the game. Domionick Scelfo chipped in seven points.

For Columbia, Barbour led the way with 15, while Alex Rosenberg had 13 points and five rebounds and Maodo Lo scored 11. The Lions were credited with 16 assists and just eight turnovers in the loss.

Trailing by 15 points with under 10 minutes to play, the Lions were able to cut the lead to one with eight seconds left, and Barbour had a last-second shot to tie. Cornell switched out the final possession, and Miller and Johnathan Gray stood tall, forcing an errant shot that bounced harmlessly offline. Four free throws by Cancer in the final 2:06 helped the visitors hold on.

Columbia jumped out to a 4-0 lead as the Big Red missed its first six shots of the game before Cancer got Cornell on the board with a 15-footer at the shot clock buzzer five minutes in. Seeing one go turned the game around for the Big Red, who made five of their next six shots as part of a 15-1 run over the next 4:53. Cornell's spurt extended with a Figini 3-pointer to push the advantage to 11 (18-7). The home team answered with seven straight to make it 18-14 heading into the under-eight minute timeout.

Slowly, Cornell started pulling away, scoring 13 of the last 18 points of the first half to go into the break leading 31-19. The Lions shot just 28 percent from the floor and Cornell held a 23-17 edge on the backboards. Though the Big Red shot just 33 percent itself, it turned the ball over just twice in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Big Red led by double figures for the first 11 minutes, though there were some fireworks. Columbia's John Daniels got a free run down the lane and threw down a thunderous dunk while being fouled. On Cornell's ensuing possession, Miller grabbed a missed shot and stuffed it down while surrounded by a pair of Lions. Daniels' dunk lit the loud, capacity crowd on fire. Until Miller momentarily quieted them back down with his answer.

The Lions made their run, but Cornell seemingly had an answer each time, particularly from Cancer, who was able to get where he wanted on the floor at will. He nailed a couple of midrange jumpers to stem Columbia runs, while sophomore Devin Cherry also had a pair of key second half baskets to hold the Lions at bay.

The Big Red will stay on the road to face Princeton on Friday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium.