ITHACA, N.Y. -- A cold-shooting second half and an efficient Yale offense sent the Cornell men's basketball team to defeat 88-76 in the first semifinal of Ivy Madness on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Bulldogs improved to 24-5 with the victory and will play for the league's NCAA Tournament bid on Sunday at 12 p.m. against either Penn or Harvard. The Big Red dropped to 15-13 and will await word on a possible postseason bid.

Senior Jake Fiegen led the Big Red with 23 points, while junior Jacob Beccles added 18 points and eight rebounds and senior Adam Hinton scored 14. Senior Josh Baldwin had six rebounds and seven assists without a turnover in a game where the national leader in assists had 24 to just six turnovers. Senior Cooper Noard finished with 10 points for Cornell, closing his four-year career with 1,187 points - good for 17th on Cornell's all-time scoring chart. His 228 career 3-pointers also ranks fifth in school history, while his 510 points this season are tied for the eighth-most in a single season for the Big Red. The Big Red opened the contest hot, connecting on 6-of-8 3-pointers out of the gates before struggling to an 11-of-37 shooting night from beyond the arc. As a team, the Big Red closed the regular season with Ivy League team records for 3-pointers made (362) and assists (596).

Yale's Isaac Celiscar scored 27 points to paced a Bulldogs' squad that shot nearly 55 percent from the field and placed four players in double figures to advance to Sunday's championship game against Penn at noon.

Yale set the tone early, jumping ahead 5-0 on a layup and 3-pointer by Trevor Mullin before Cornell settled in. The Big Red kept the game close behind Fiegen, who knocked down a pair of early 3-pointers and helped Cornell trim the deficit to one on multiple occasions during the first half.

The Bulldogs maintained control throughout the opening period. Celiscar scored repeatedly in the paint and Jordan Brathwaite hit consecutive 3-pointers late in the half to stretch the Bulldogs' lead. Mullin's layup in the final seconds sent Yale into the locker room with a 49-42 advantage. Cornell shot an impressive 64 percent in the first half but was unable to string together defensive stops against the Bulldogs' balanced attack.

Cornell continued to battle after the break. Sophomore Anthony Nimani drilled a 3-pointer midway through the second half to cut the deficit to 58-56, but Yale answered immediately as Celiscar scored on a series of drives and Brathwaite buried another 3-pointer to rebuild the cushion. Celiscar finished 12-of-16 from the field while Mullin added 21 points and Brathwaite scored 14 off the bench for Yale. Ivy League Player of the Year Nick Townsend contributed 15 points and six assists as the Bulldogs outscored Cornell 46-34 in the paint.

Cornell briefly made one final push in the closing minutes. A 3-pointer by Beccles and another from Fiegen helped the Big Red trim the deficit to five with just over two minutes remaining, but Yale responded with a layup by Townsend and a series of free throws to seal the victory.

The Bulldogs finished the game shooting .547 percent from the floor and held a 38-34 edge on the boards. Cornell shot just 29 percent in the second half after the hot start, ending the game with a .435 shooting percentage.