PRINCETON, N.J. -- Cornell cut an 18-point second half deficit to two with less than five minutes to play, but Princeton's defense held the Big Red scoreless in the final 4:50 and pulled away for a 68-59 victory on Friday evening at Jadwin Gymnasium. The Big Red fell to 13-12 (5-4), while the Tigers improved to 14-8 (6-3 Ivy) and moved into a tie for second place. Cornell remains in fourth place in the league race with five games to play.

Riley Voss ignited the Big Red's comeback with 13 second half points and added four rebounds to lead three double figure scorers. Senior Matt Morgan, who reached double figures in scoring for the 76th consecutive game, added 12 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Jimmy Boeheim chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. Cornell shot just 39 percent overall and 24 percent from 3-point range.

Ryan Schwieger netted 23 points and six rebounds, while Jaelin Llewellyn had 15 points and seven boards and Jerome Derosiers recorded a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds). The Tigers shot 48 percent from the floor after halftime and 43 percent overall and outrebounded the Big Red 41-30, holding an 11-4 edge in second chance points.

Cornell grabbed a 5-2 lead 90 seconds in, but a 12-0 Princeton run put the home team ahead for good. The Big Red kept the contest within arm's length, but fell behind by as many as 10 when Ethan Wright drilled a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to make it 36-26. The Big Red made a late flurry, with Jack Gordon hitting a pair of free throws with six seconds to play, followed by a Joel Davis steal at midcourt and a dunk at the horn to make it a 36-30 contest at the half. Morgan scored 10 of his points in the first half, with half of his 12 points on the night coming on consecutive possessions 29 seconds apart to push him into double figures.

The Tigers grabbed the momentum right back after halftime, going on a 14-4 run over the first 4:45 to go up 16, and eventually built the lead to 18 with 13:41 to play.

From there, Cornell made its charge. Voss got it started with a 3-pointer with 12:31 to play, then banked in a runner on the ensuing possession. He'd hit two more treys, the last with 6:46 left to make it a 59-55 game. Less than a minute later, he hit a tough driving layup to make it a two-point game. A pair of free throws by Boeheim got the Big Red within two points against with 4:50 to play, but that would be the last points the team would put on the board. The visitors would miss their final 10 shots over 4:50, with Princeton eventually pulling away in the final minutes.

NOTES TO KNOW
• Morgan reached double figures in scoring for the 76th straight game, matching three players - including basketball Hall of Famer David Robinson - for the 15th-longest streak in NCAA history.
• With his five made field goals, Morgan surpassed former Harvard great Joe Carabino for fourth place in Ivy history in career field goals (710).
• His four assists moved him into 11th place on the school's career list with 273, passing David Bradfield '54 and Graham Dow '07.
• Voss' 13 points surpassed the 10 he scored against Johnson & Wales.
• The team's six 3-pointers give them 200 for the season, the fourth consecutive campaign hitting that milestone and the 11th time in program history.
• It was also the 854th consecutive game that Cornell has hit a 3-pointer, the 11th-longest streak in college basketball.


NEXT UP
• The Big Red will visit defending Ivy champion Penn at the Palestra on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
• Cornell won the first meeting of the season between the teams, 80-71, on Feb. 1 at Newman Arena to snap an 11-game Quaker win streak in the series.