Box Score I Box Score (PDF) | Game Highlights

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – On Harvard's Senior Day, the experienced Crimson waited out a patient, young Cornell team and finished off the Big Red 72-47 on Friday evening at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson improved to 23-4 (10-1 Ivy), while the Big Red slipped to 2-23 (1-10 Ivy).

With just 10 players in uniform due to injury and illness for Cornell, the three-time defending Ivy League champion proved to be too much. Despite the final, several young Big Red players had strong efforts. Freshman guard Darryl Smith had 14 points, one off his career high, and added four rebounds. Sophomore Nolan Cressler chipped in eight points, three rebounds and two steals and senior Dwight Tarwater had 10 points. Freshman David Onuorah had four blocked shots and three rebounds in just 21 minutes of action while nettling foul trouble.

Siyani Chambers had 15 points and four assists to lead three double figure scorers, with Brandyn Curry adding 12 and Kyle Casey scoring 10. The Crimson shot 51 percent from the floor and held a decisive 34-18 edge on the glass.

Combined with Yale's 57-46 loss at Princeton, the Crimson moved within one game of clinching at least a share of the Ivy League title. A win tomorrow against Columbia or a loss by Yale at Penn would give Harvard a share of the title. A win and a Yale loss would give them the league's automatic NCAA berth.

Cornell tried to slow down the Crimson by milking the shot clock much of the first half, and it worked for much of the first 13 minutes. Four minutes into the contest, the Big Red went into the media timeout leading 2-0, and the leading statistics was freshman David Onuorah's impressive three blocked shots. A frustrated Harvard team watched the visitors use up a majority of the shot clock and get late buckets and Cornell led 8-7 nine minutes into the game. With 13:28 left, Onuorah was sent to the bench with his second foul, changing the complexion of the game.

Harvard got a steal and layup from Curry to regain the lead and never looked back. After a Darryl Smith 3-pointer got Cornell back within four at 17-13 with 7:14 left, the home team ended the half on a 17-5 run to go into the break leading 34-18.

Cornell ended the first half on a 5-2 run and then scored the first five after the break to cut the lead to 11, but the visitors weren't able to get within single digits. Harvard methodically was able to pull away, extending the lead to as many as 26 in the waning minutes after both teams had cleared the bench.

The Big Red will head to Dartmouth to play the Big Green on Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m. at Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H.