ITHACA, N.Y. -- Isaiah Gray scored a career-high 18 points, including the go-ahead bucket and a pair of clinching free throws with three seconds to play, to help Cornell claim sole possession of first place in the Ivy League with a 65-62 victory over Yale on Friday evening at a packed Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 20-4 (9-1 Ivy) and clinched its third consecutive bid to Ivy Madness, while the Bulldogs slipped to 17-8 (8-2 Ivy) to drop a game behind Cornell and into a tie with Princeton for second place.

In a game that featured six ties and 14 lead changes, it was the Big Red that made the big plays down the stretch in this one. Yale led by four with four minutes to play with only 17 points on the board after halftime, but Cornell calmly made its run late. A stepback 3-pointer by Nazir Williams cut the Bulldog lead to one before Gray knotted the game at 58-58 with 2:04 remaining with a free throw. Sean Hansen drew an offensive foul, then 12 seconds later freshman Jake Fiegen was hit on a cut and calmly hit both free throws with 92 seconds left to go up 60-58. Yale knotted the score on two August Mahoney free throws, setting up Gray's heroics.

The senior made a hard drive to the hole and was hit by two defenders, getting the shot to fall and drawing the foul. The conventional three-point play gave the home team a 63-60 edge with 1:08 remaining. Cornell got the stop it was looking for, as Fiegen bothered the Bez Mbeng layup for a miss. The Bulldogs eventually got the ball back and John Poulakidas drew a foul on a 3-pointer. He missed the first and third, but the second made it a two-point game. Yale was forced to foul with three seconds left and Gray put the game away by cleanly hitting both shots.

Gray made 5-of-9 shots from the floor and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe while adding five rebounds to lead three double figure scorers in a virtual rock fight for the second time in two weeks against the Bulldogs. This time the Big Red defense (holding Yale to 39 percent shooting overall and 28 percent from 3-point range) made the difference. Nazir Williams added 14 points and eight rebounds and Chris Manon scored 11 points with three blocked shots and two steals. AK Okereke scored nine with four boards and both Sean Hansen and Guy Ragland Jr. posted six rebounds apiece.

Yale's August Mahoney had a team-best 16 points, while Matt Knowling posted 15 points and 12 rebounds for the double-double. Bez Mbeng notched 12 points with four assists and three rebounds in the loss. Yale couldn't overcome an 11-of-26 performance from the free-throw line.

Cornell clinched its 20th win for just the fifth time in program history and will now celebrate its seniors on Saturday against a Brown team squarely in the mix for the fourth spot in Ivy Madness. The Big Red will be attempting to close out its home season unbeaten for the first time since 2008-09 (currently 10-0). Cornell had to hold off a furious Brown rally, 84-83, in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 20 in Providence.

Cornell led by as many as 11 and was up 37-27 at halftime, but it was the second half that saw both teams really dig in on defense. Cornell shot just 8-of-23 (35 percent) overall, while the Bulldogs hit on just a 33 percent clip (10-of-30). 



NEXT UP
• The Big Red will celebrate its seven seniors when it plays its final regular season home game of the 2023-24 season when it welcomes Brown to Newman Arena on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. at Newman Arena.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• Cornell will be out for a season sweep of the Bears following an 84-83 victory on Jan. 20 .
• The two teams have split the past eight meetings right down the middle (4-4).