NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Yale shot 58 percent in the second half, forced a season-high 20 Big Red turnovers and dominated the paint in a 96-69 win over Cornell on Saturday afternoon at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The Big Red dropped its third straight game to fall to 9-6 (1-3 Ivy), while the preseason Ivy League favorite Bulldogs improved to 7-8 (1-0) in winning its conference opener.

Cornell cut an 11-point second half deficit to four (56-52) five minutes into the second half, but the Bulldogs immediately went on a 9-0 run and never looked back. Yale opened it up over the final 10 minutes as Cornell tried to shoot its way back into the game.

Sarju Patel and Sean Hansen each scored 11 points and Chris Manon rounded out three double figure scorers with 10. Manon added four rebounds and four steals, while Keller Boothby also had four steals, a career high. Dean Noll scored nine points with four assists and Guy Ragland Jr. posted eight points with four boards.

Five Yale players reached double figures and the Bulldogs held a 41-25 edge on the backboards, helping the home team overcome 17 turnovers of their own. Isaiah Kelly scored 18 points and added six rebounds and three assists, while Matt Knowling scored 17 with eight boards. Jalen Gabbidon (13 points), Azar Swain (12 points, five rebounds) and Matthue Cotton (10 points, six rebounds, four assists) also reached double digits. The Bulldogs shot 54 percent overall and made 60 percent of its shots inside the arc.

The teams combined for 71 free throw attempts, including 38 for the Big Red. The attempts were the most by a Cornell team in a road game since shooting 39 in a double overtime victory at Colgate during the 2015-16 campaign.
 

FIRST HALF

• It was a back-and-forth first seven minutes with neither team leading by more than a possession, with Cornell's last lead coming at 6-5 after Keller Boothby drained a 3-pointer off a fastbreak find by Dean Noll.
• Tied 9-9, Yale went on a 15-3 run spurred on by five straight points by EJ Jarvis.
• Cornell immediately went on a 10-0 run of its own over 2:34 and cut the lead to just one at 26-25 with under five minutes remaining when Isaiah Gray scored in transition.
• The Bulldogs pulled its advantage to 13 late in the half and settled in with a 44-33 edge at the break.
• Cornell had 11 first half turnovers, just one offensive rebound and 14 fouls in a half that was cluttered with 29 total whistles and 21 turnovers.
 

SECOND HALF

• Cornell clawed back early in the second half to within three (52-49) as the visitors scored 16 points in the first 4:48 after the break with seven coming from Sarju Patel and ending with a 3-pointer by Guy Ragland Jr.
• Sophomore Sean Hansen had a thunderous driving dunk during the run as well.
• It was a four-point game when Ragland connected on his second trey in less than a minute to make it 56-52.
• The Bulldogs all but put the game away in the next three minutes, spurting back into a 13-point lead.
• Cornell was in full chase mode, but Yale remained poised and methodically built its lead to 25 by the under eight minute timeout and cruised from there.
• The Bulldogs ultimately shot 58 percent from the floor after the break, connecting on 16-of-24 shots from inside the arc (67 percent) in the final 20 minutes.
 

NEXT UP

• The Big Red will play a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee contest against Columbia on Monday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The Lions lead the all-time series 131-103, though the Big Red has a narrow 20-16 lead over the last 18 seasons.
• Seven of the last 12 meetings have been decided by five points or less.