Box Score Box Score (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell outscored Harvard 13-0 in the final four minutes, got an open 3-point look in the final seconds and did everything it could to try and complete a comeback for the ages. The defending conference champion, which has been in the same position every weekend of Ivy play, shrugged it off and held on for a 67-65 victory over Cornell on Friday evening at Newman Arena to remain unbeaten in Ivy League play. The Big Red slipped to 10-12 (2-3 Ivy), while the Crimson moved to 13-6 (5-0 Ivy).

Senior Errick Peck had 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a monster game off the bench, helping spearhead a charge that saw Cornell rally from a 21-point second half deficit to close within two in the final 30 seconds. Peck got a chance for the win with three seconds left, chased down his own offensive rebound and appeared to trip as he went out of bounds as time expired. One official seemed to signal a foul, but it was overruled as coming after the buzzer and the Crimson picked up its fourth conference win by three points or less so far this season.

While the Crimson have played the role of cardiac kids this season, their latest sweat came thanks to a dominant final four minutes and change from the Big Red. Trailing by 15 after Christian Webster's fifth 3-pointer of the night made it 67-52 with 4:21 left, Cornell outscored Harvard 13-0 the rest of the way.

The run started innocently enough, as Peck drew a foul and hit both free throws. After the final media timeout, Galal Cancer calmly stepped to the line and made two more. Shonn Miller stepped in front of a pass and threw down a highlight-reel dunk and then blocked a shot on the other end that resulted in a run-out layup for Johnathan Gray. All of a sudden, Cornell trailed just 67-60 with 2:34 remaining. Miller stole the ball again and Cancer found Gray for a 3-pointer to make it 67-63. The Big Red got a defensive stop and after a missed trey by Miller, Peck battled and won a loose ball for the offensive rebound and hit a short jumper in the lane to make it 67-65.

Harvard was able to work the clock and drew a tough foul on Miles Asafo-Adjei, but freshman guard Siyani Chambers missed the front end of the 1-and-1. Peck rebounded the ball and led the offensive charge. Chambers poked the ball away in the frontcourt just enough to throw off Peck's balance and his jumper from the top of the key went wide. He crased the board and picked up his own rebound, but couldn't draw a whistle as time ran out.

Miller, who was so dominant defensively in the final four minutes, finished with 13 points, three bocks and two steals, while Gray had 12 points and two steals. Cornell shot 49 percent form the floor and held a 27-24 rebounding edge. The Big Red's bench held a commanding 33-11 scoring edge.

Harvard's balance was on display as Chambers ran the show, finishing the night with 18 points, 11 assists and five rebounds for an offense that shot 55 percent from the floor. Christian Webster finished with 17 points and six rebounds, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Wesley Saunders had 14 points and four rebounds and Steve Mondou-Missi netted 11 points and blocked two shots. Harvard efficiently shot 55 percent from the floor and 44 percent from 3-point range.

The Crimson seemed destined to cruise to the win, entering halftime with a 16-point lead (38-22) and generally looking like it might run Cornell out of the building. But it never did. Even in going up 21 points early in the second half, the Big Red never let the game get out of hand. But it was hard to guess Cornell's final flourish was coming, except that the building's energy took off.

The student section, full on a snowy night, kept the intensity high and nearly blew the roof off when Miller threw down his coast-to-coast dunk with three minutes left the same as his alley-oop slam early on a feed from Dominick Scelfo in the opening minutes of the contest. Scelfo ended with a career-high five assists.

Freshman Nolan Cressler scored eight points and had four rebounds, just missing out on being the fourth Big Red scorer in double figures.

Cornell returns to action on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 12 p.m. when it meets Dartmouth at Newman Arena. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m., but was postponed due to the snow storm.