ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell men's basketball jumped out to a double figure lead four minutes in, led by as many as 18 and improved to 9-1 on the season at home with an 88-75 victory over Columbia on Wednesday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 13-7 (5-4 Ivy) with the victory, while the Lions slipped to 4-17 (1-8 Ivy).

Senior Dean Noll had a career-high 23 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals, sophomore Keller Boothby had 17 points in the first half and freshman Nazir Williams netted 11as the Big Red connected on 14 3-pointers and assisted on 21 of its 27 baskets in a game rescheduled after a Martin Luther King Jr. day snowstorm. Sarju Patel chipped in his steady 11 points, five rebounds and four assists. Marcus Filien tieda career high with eight points off the bench, while Kobe Dickson was credited with a game-high six assists.

Noah Robledo and Geornimo Rubio De La Rosa each scored 15, Robbie Stankard notched 11 points and six boards and Cameron Shockley-Okeke had 10 for the Lions. Columbia hit a season-high 12-pointers, including 10-of-11 during on stretch, and outrebounded the Big Red 36-32 with 15 of its boards on the offensive end.

The Lions cut the lead to four twice in the second half, the last time at 62-58 with 12 minutes to play. Cornell scored five straight - a Kobe Dickson dunk on a nice feed from Jordan Jones, followed by a Dean Noll 3-pointer after a handoff from Dickson. The lead never dipped below two possessions the rest of the way and the home team hit 14-of-18 free throws after the break, including a 6-for-6 effort from Nazir Williams to close out the victory.

First Half

• Dean Noll canned a 3-pointer 28 seconds in and the Big Red wouldn't trail all evening.
• Four minutes in, the Big Red had the advantage to double figures after Jordan Jones knocked down a trey to make it 16-5.
• A Keller Boothby 3-pointer, the first of his five made treys in the first half, and a Marcus Filien turnaround jumper pushed the Big Red lead to 21-7.
• Nazir Williams made it an 18-point game (33-18) with eight minutes to play in the half.
• Boothby scored eight straight, including a pair of 3-pointers, to go up 15 (41-26), then hit his fifth of the half to make it 46-33 with under three minutes remaining before the break to give him 17 points.
• The Lions closed with five straight points to make the halftime score 50-39.
• Cornell shot 65 percent from the floor in the first half, including knocking down 10-of-18 3-pointers.
• Keeping the visitors in the game was a 7-of-11 effort from beyond the arc and eight second chance points on eight offensive rebounds.
 

Second Half

• Columbia got the first bucket of the second half, but didn't get a call a moment before and that galled the Lions' bench into picking up a technical foul. 
• That momentarily gave Cornell the momentum, as two Noll free throws and a 3-poointer by Sarju Patel pushed the advantage back to 14 (55-41).
• Columbia snatched the momentum back, going on an 8-2 run to get back to single digits, eventually getting within four when Robledon finished a three-point play to get within 60-56. 
• After trading baskets to stay at four, Noll canned a 3-pointer and scored a tough layup in the lane and all of a sudden the Big Red lead was back to nine.
• The lead stayed at six before a pair of Nazir Williams free throws and a Marcus Filien corner 3-pointer made it a 76-65 edge with 7:50 remaining.
• Eight points would be the closest Columbia would get the rest of the night, with Cornell hitting 5-of-6 free throws in the closing minutes to claim its fifth Ivy victory of the season.
 

NEXT UP

• The Big Red will attempt to complete a season sweep of Brown when the Bears travel to Ithaca on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena.