EASTON, Pa. -- The Cornell men's basketball team put five in double figures and it was the shot that cemented the fifth that solidified the Big Red's 90-85 win over Lafayette on Friday evening at the Kirby Sports Center. The Big Red improved to 2-0 with a pair of road wins for the first time since the 2009-10 Ivy League champions.
Senior
Sarju Patel hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining, his first trey since playing at VMI in 2018, to stem Lafayette's late momentum and lift the Big Red to its third straight road victory dating back to the 2019-20 season. Patel had 10 points with six rebounds.
Sophomore
Chris Manon had 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals and junior
Jordan Jones scored 19 with six rebounds and two assists.
Keller Boothby hit four 3-pointers for a career-best 12 points and
Greg Dolan chipped in three points.
Kobe Dickson had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists to go along with eight points with his backup,
Sean Hansen, scoring four points with four rebounds and two blocked shots.
Cornell made 45 percent of its shots and knocked down 12 3-pointers in the win, making more free throws (20) than its opponent attempted (14) for the second straight game.
Lafayette had four in double figures itself, with Tyrone Perry leading the way with a game-high 25 points. Seven-footer Neal Quinn had 19 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots, while Leo O'Boyle netted 19 with five rebounds and three assists. Kyle Jenkins was the fourth in double figures with 15 points, seven boards and four assists. Lafayette made 14 3-pointers and outrebounded Cornell 43-39.
First Half
• Both teams started in high gear with Lafayette hitting three 3-pointers to jump out to an 11-5 lead three and a half minutes in.
• The visitors took their first lead at 16-15 on a pair of free throws by Kobe Dickson with 11:17 left on the clock.
• A 3-pointer by Nazir Williams on the ensuing possession made it a four-point Cornell lead that ultimately grew to a 15-2 Big Red run.
• Cornell's lead grew to 27-17 with 8:44 to play after Manon's steal on an inbounds led to an intentional foul on the Leopards and a pair of free throws.
• Keeping possession, Jones then scored on a quick-hitting inbounds pass to push the edge to 12.
• The lead eventually landed at 14 twice, the first time after one of Manon's three 3-pointers (34-20).
• Lafayette got the lead back to eight, but Boothby's third trey of the half brought it back to double figures.
• Boothby, Manon and Jones each had nine first half points, while the Big Red defense limited Lafayette to 38 percent shooting.
Second Half
• The visitors maintained a double figure lead early in the second half before a big run got the home team back into the game for good.
• Trailing 61-49, the Leopards embarked on a 10-1 run that included five points from Perry and 1-of-10 shooting by the Big Red during the spurt.
• The lead fluctuated between two and 10 points throughout the second half, with the Big Red answering every run with one of their own.
• When Lafayette got within two with 11:38 to play, Boothby hit his fourth 3-pointer.
• When they scratched back to within three, Dickson hit Dolan for a backdoor layup to double the advantage after a foul.
• The home team made it a two-point game with two minutes to play when Jenkins dunked it on the break, but Dolan hit Patel for a layup to push it back to four.
• When the Leopards answered with a Quinn hook shoot to make it 85-83 with 1:37 to play, both teams had a pair of possessions to change the game.
• Cornell didn't squander a third, with Patel lining up a shot form beyond the arc that he splashed in with 13 seconds left.
• Lafayette got a dunk from Quinn five seconds later to get within three, but
Jordan Jones was fouled on the inbounds and went to the line.
• He made the first of two attempts and missed the second, but grabbed his own rebound and drew another two shots at the line with 3.8 seconds to play.
• Jones missed the first and made the second to cap the scoring.
Up Next
• Cornell will welcome reigning Patriot League champion Colgate to Newman Arena when the Central New York rivals meet on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 73-58 in 131 previous meetings.
• The Raiders have won four straight, including a 66-58 victory on Dec. 11, 2019 in Hamilton, N.Y.
• The contest will be Cornell's first at home since Feb. 29, 2020 — a span of 626 days since it last played in front of Newman Nation.
