PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Harvard went on a 13-2 run in the final two minutes seconds of the first half, including a halfcourt buzzer beater on a broken play, and Cornell couldn't recover as the Crimson advanced to the finals of the 2018 Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament with a 74-55 win over the Big Red. The top-seeded Crimson improved to 18-12, opening the contest up in the final 20 minutes to end the Big Red's season at 12-16.

Matt Morgan scored a team-high 19 points and added three rebounds, three assists and three steals to close a record-breaking junior campaign. He closed the year with 630 points, a mark that not only stands as a school record, but also ranks 12th all-time in Ivy history. He will enter his final season third on the school's career scoring list (1,646 points) and 19th in Ivy history. He was the lone double figure scorer for the Big Red, which earned the fourth and final seed into the tournament on the season's final day.

Seth Towns (24 points, 12 rebounds) and Chris Lewis (16 points, 10 rebounds) both had double-doubles, while Christian Juzang had 12, including nine in the final 75 seconds of the half to turn a six-point BIg Red lead into a five-point halftime deficit inside of the final media timeout. The run put the Big Red on its heels, and the underdog struggled to recover.

Cornell got back within two points early in the second half on a 3-pointer by Morgan, then moments later on a driving basket by the junior. That triggered an 11-2 Crimson run that put the lead into double figures, where it stood for the final 10 minutes. Harvard's defense and several end-of-shot clock shots by Towns kept the game out of reach.

Junior Stone Gettings, named second-team All-Ivy earlier in the week, posted nine points with five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal, while Jack Gordon had six points and a pair of steals. Both Jimmy Boeheim and Joel Davis chipped in five points apiece, with Boeheim adding five rebounds and Davis posting four.

The Crimson shot 48 percent from the floor in the second half and made 11-of-25 3-pointers while outrebounding the Big Red 37-25. Cornell shot 44 percent overall, though just 38 percent in the second half.  

Cornell had all the energy and the momentum for most of the first half, leading by as many as 7 (26-19) after Morgan got loose for a 3-pointer, then again when the junior found Josh Warren underneath for a layup to make it 28-21 with under five minutes to play in the half. A 3-pointer by Rio Haskett and three 3-pointers by Juzang turned the tide. Once the wave hit, Cornell made two runs - one to get back within two early in the second half, another to cut an 11-point deficit to five. Both times, Harvard quickly responded and pushed its advantage to double figures.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Morgan's 19 points closed his season with 630 points, good for a Cornell single-season record and the 12th-most in a single season in Ivy history, as well as the most by an Ivy player in three decades (Jim Barton - 636 in 1987-88).
• Morgan posted his 51st consecutive double figure scoring game. 
• With his two 3-pointers, Morgan moved into third all-time at Cornell with 231 for his career.
• Cornell's 2,124 points on the year ranks fourth all-time in a season, while its 449 assists sits fifth. 

NEXT UP
• Cornell will head into the offseason ready to make another significant jump with the return of seniors Matt Morgan, Stone Gettings, Steven Julian, Jack Gordon, Joel Davis and Troy Whiteside.