ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team returned from a two week break and didn't miss a beat, rolling past Siena 95-74 on Tuesday evening at MVP Arena. The Big Red improved to 8-2, while the Saint slipped to 2-9 with the loss.

Four Big Red players reached double figures with Isaiah Gray leading the way with 16 points to go along with four assists, four steals and two rebounds. Keller Boothby and Guy Ragland Jr. scored 13 apiece and freshman Jacob Beccles notched 10 with three assists off the bench. Both Cooper Noard and Chris Manon tallied nine each. In all, the Big Red had 20 assists and just nine turnovers, collected 12 steals and hit 12-of-32 shots from beyond the arc. The Big Red had big advantages in bench scoring (57-22) and fastbreak points (26-5) in shooting 48 percent from the floor.

Siena got 23 points and 15 rebounds from Sean Durugordon and 10 points from Zek Tekin. Michael Eley scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds, but that came on 3-of-16 shooting. In the decisive first half, Durugordon and Eley shot a combined 5-of-26 from the floor. Siena held a 50-34 edge on the backboards and ripped down 22 offensive boards, but committed 18 turnovers and missed 15 free throws in the loss.


The Big Red rode a first half defense that allowed Siena to shoot just 26 percent from the floor to race out to a 17-point halftime lead, built its advantage to 30 midway through the second half and used its entire roster over the final 10 minutes to even its series with the Saints at 4-4. The win was the 27th consecutive non-league win against non-conference opponents outside of guarantee games.

Cornell scored the game's first eight points and never trailed, though a slow Big Red start offensively and Siena's ability to get second shots kept the Saints close. It was a four-point game midway through the first half before Cornell found its stride.

After scoring 15 points in the game's first 10:29, the Big Red ripped off 36 in the final 9:31. The visitors connected on three 3-pointers in less than a minute, including consecutive treys by Boothby, to force a Siena timeout. A third Boothby 3-pointer set up a flourish by Gray, who had three consecutive driving buckets to put Cornell up double figures. Noard and Ragland canned consecutive 3-pointers and Boothby knocked down a pair of free throws late to give Cornell a 51-34 edge.

The second half was much of the same, with Cornell never leading by fewer than 18 in the final 20 minutes after hitting its first shot of the half. The highlight was an 8-0 burst midway through the half that put the exclamation point on the win. An Isaiah Gray steal led to a run-out dunk by Beccles, and the inbounds pass was stolen by Ragland. The junior floated to the right corner and drilled a 3-pointer, then retreated back on defense. He again stole a long inbounds pass, euro-stepped his way to the basket and was fouled on the layup. In 23 seconds, the Cornell lead was 27 and Siena never threatened.

All 18 Big Red players saw action in the final 20 minutes, with 12 scoring and with just seven points coming from the starters, 

UP NEXT
• Cornell will play its final contest before an eight-day holiday break when it visits Robert Morris on Friday, Dec. 22 at 2 p.m. at UPMC Events Center.
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 2-1, though the Colonials won the last matchup between the teams, a 98-89 overtime win in the 2019 CIT first round in Moon Township.
• The series dates back to the 1983-84 season, a 70-68 Big Red victory at the Far West Classic in Portland, Ore.