NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team bolted out to a big first half lead and shot 63 percent from the floor overall to top Columbia 94-83 in the Ivy League opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium. The Big Red (9-5, 1-0 Ivy) handed head coach Jon Jaques '10 his first victory in Ancient Eight play, while the Lions (11-3, 0-1 Ivy) lost their second straight contest after an 11-1 start.

Sophomore Jacob Beccles scored a career-high 23 points and tied a school record by hitting all five of his 3-point attempts, while junior Cooper Noard made 6-of-8 of his own on his way to 20 points. The two guards combined for 15-of-18 shooting from the floor overall as the Big Red shot .633 as a team (No. 9 all-time in a game at Cornell. The Big Red made 14-of-27 shots from beyond the arc overall and has now connected on 34 treys in the past two games. AK Okereke had 12 points, five assists and three blocked shots and Nazir Williams rounded out four double figure scorers with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Senior Guy Ragland Jr. was credited with a career-best eight assists and Jake Fiegen scored nine. The visitors were credited with 26 total assists.\

Columbia put four in double figures with Kenny Noland leading the way with 19 points and six assists. Avery Brown scored 18 and Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa chipped in 15 points and six assists, though the Ivy League's second-leading scorer was held without a point in the decisive first half. Noah Robledo netted 10 points with five boards. Columbia made 12 3-pointers, shot 49 percent from the floor and assisted on 24 baskets with just 11 turnovers.



The Big Red offense was clicking in the first 20 minutes, shooting 67 percent from the floor as a team and making seven 3-pointers to grab a 51-31 edge. A pair of 11-0 runs and a 7-0 spurt that took less than a minute put Cornell in the driver's seat by the break. Cornell's dominance on the glass (16-11) and its defense were also outstanding, as the Lions shot just 43 percent from the field, were 1-for-10 from beyond the arc the Ivy League's second-leading scorer Geronimo Rubio de la Rosa was held scoreless in the first 20 minutes. For Cornell,  Beccles scored 13, Noard added 11 and Williams had six points, six assists and three rebounds for the Big Red, who led by as many as 22.

Columbia came out scorching in the second half, cutting the deficit to nine in less than four minutes thanks to opening the stanza shooting 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Cornell settled in, with Beccles hitting two more 3-pointers and capping a backcourt steal with a fastbreak dunk to push it back to 17 three minutes later. Though the Lions scored 52 second half points, Cornell answered them nearly shot-for-shot to maintain its double figure lead the rest of the way. The Big Red shot 60 percent after halftime and made seven treys on 50 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes to claim its fourth consecutive road win. With the victory, head coach Jon Jaques '10 became the first Big Red mentor to win his Ivy coaching debut since Tom Miller in 1980-81 (at home vs. Columbia, 75-64).

UP NEXT
• Cornell remains on the road to begin Ivy League season when it visits perennial Ancient Eight contender Penn on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m.
• The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• The Quakers hold a commanding 162-78 lead in the all-time series, though the Big Red swept last season's home-and-home and has won three of the past four matchups.
• Cornell is looking for its first win streak at the Palestra since the 2008 and 2009 seasons.