ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sean Hansen scored 25 points to lead five double figure scorers and the Cornell men's basketball team toughened up in the second half to lift the Big Red to an 84-78 win at Lehigh on Monday evening at Stabler Arena. The win was Cornell's first over the Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem since 1998.

Hansen finished one point shy of his career high by hitting 7-of-9 shots, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, and added four rebounds and two assists. Cooper Noard scored 15 points after hitting a career-best five 3-pointers, while Guy Ragland Jr. had 11 points, six rebounds and four steals. AK Okereke (11 points, three rebounds, two assists) and Chris Manon (10 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals) rounded out the double figure scorers.

The Big Red held Lehigh to 37 percent shooting in the second half, including a miserable 1-of-12 from 3-point range, as the visitors rallied from a 44-39 deficit. Cornell held a 29-12 edge in bench points, with Ragland, Okereke and Nazir Williams (seven points, four rebounds) leading the way.



Tyler Whitney-Sidney led the Mountain Hawks with 23 points, while Dominic Parolin scored 16 with eight rebounds before fouling out late in regulation. Bube Momah had a game-best 10 rebounds as Lehigh held a 40-34 edge on the backboards. Jalin SInclair also reached double figures with 13 points.

Lehigh led by seven points with 14 minutes to play before a three-point play by Manon and five straight points by Hansen put Cornell into the lead at 59-58 two minutes later. Three times Lehigh tied the game up, but each time Cornell responded. The Big Red had a two-possession lead for the final 6:13, though the Mountain Hawks couldn't get closer.

.Lehigh took a 44-39 edge into the break thanks to 53 percent shooting, a 22-15 edge on the backboards and a 16-8 scoring edge off turnovers. Whitney-Sidney's 16 first half points outdueled Noard, who hit five 3-pointers to set a career high in the first 20 minutes. Hansen, who opened the season's scoring in the game's first minute, had 10 points and Isaiah Gray dished four assists by halftime.

NEXT UP
• The Big Red will kick off its 2023-24 home slate when it meets Division III foe Morrisville State on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The contest will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the hardwood.
• Cornell has almost annually played and beaten a non-Division I team, going 32-0 with an average margin of victory of more than 30 points per game in the past 29 seasons 
• Each of the team's 32 wins have come by double figures except for one.