PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Cornell men's basketball team shot 71 percent from the floor in the second half, but Yale matched the Big Red shot-for-shot and held on for a 90-84 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center in the championship game of the Ivy League Tournament. The Bulldogs, defended their tournament title and clinched its NCAA bid in improving to 22-7, while the Big Red fell to 18-11 and will hope to have their name called for the NIT.

Cornell trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half but roared back behind the hot shooting that saw it end the night at 56 percent overall and 41 percent on 11 3-pointers made. Junior AK Okereke had 22 points with eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block to earn all-tournament honors. Senior Nazir Williams added 20 points and four assists, while both Guy Ragland Jr. (16 points, seven assists) and Jake Fiegen had 11 with three boards. Cornell's fifth starter, Cooper Noard, had eight points and seven boards. Cornell held a 30-27 edge on the glass against the Ivy League's top rebounding team.

Yale shot 57 percent on 13-of-23 from 3-point range as a team and turned the ball over just three times, including making 9-of-12 shots from beyond the arc after the break. John Poulikidas scored 25 points with three rebounds and three assists to lead the Ivy champs, with fellow first-team All-Ivy player Nick Townsend scoring 19 points with five boards and four helpers. Bez Mbeng netted 15 points with seven rebounds and four assists and Casey Simmons was the fourth player in double figures with 13 points and four boards.
 

After scuffling against the Big Red's defense much of the first half, a late 12-0 run by Yale put the top seed in the lead at halftime, 37-32. Cornell struggled to connect from beyond the arc, hitting just 3-of-15 while giving up three straight during the run that flipped the half.

Okereke led the Big Red with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Jake Fiegen chipped in seven points and three boards. The starters contributed all 32 points as Cornell closed its rotation to eight players in the half. Simmons and Mbeng scored nine points apiece and Townsend added seven in the first 20 minutes for the Bulldogs.

Both teams played with their hair on fire over the first 20 minutes in a physical half. The Bulldogs shot just 39 percent, but closed strong with three 3-pointers in the 12-0 run. Cornell missed seven of its final eight shots from beyond the arc, but clawed the nine-point deficit back to five at the break.

The second half saw a level of shot-making worthy of the two top teams in the Ivy League, especially after Yale broke out to a 16-point bulge on the strength of an early 11-0 run to start the second half. From when Cooper Noard hit a 3-pointer to start cutting into the Yale lead with 13:48 remaining and over the next 10 minutes, the teams combined to make 12-of-14 shots from 3-point range. A run-out layup by Williams cut the Big Red deficit to four (76-72 with three minutes remaining.

The Bulldogs had answer, like they did all afternoon. Townsend scored on a little floater, and Mbeng scored after a Big Red turnover to push it back to eight. Cornell never got back within five and the Bulldogs were able to wait out the final buzzer before celebrating on the court.