Levien was packed on Saturday night with the winter toughened, red mukluk clad alumni of Cornell’s chilly, central New York campus. So undaunted was their attendance by the city’s first snow storm of 2012 that the game was effectively sold out with the noisy crowd officially listed at 2,654. Not only was I denied my usual center court perch by this visiting mob, I was shunted deep into the northwest corner of the gymnasium, literally past the end line and with easy access to the West Side Highway. A failed negotiation at the box office left me with seats unchanged and trudging back to my distant outpost to get acquainted with its novel sight lines. Actually, the view of play was not half bad though I regretted being denied sight of the stats on the north end scoreboard.
Columbia having narrowly fallen, in no small part because of abysmal 3 point shooting, to both Penn and Princeton on the opening weekend of league play almost desperately needed a victory over Cornell to renovate their hopes for Ivy success this year. Though undersized and only 6-11 on the year, the not so Big Red would clearly present a challenge to the home Blue. They had, after all, upended the Princeton crew that undid our Lions last Saturday. Additionally, and perhaps more impressively, they had battled a then 25th ranked Illinois to the bitter end of a close 64-60 loss out in the cornfields of Champaign-Urbana. They had subsequently played and loss to the Big Ten’s Penn State and Maryland of the ACC. Columbia had not played a single team of similar stature since the season opener up in Storrs against UConn. A loss would put the Lion five at a miserable 0-3, firmly anchored to the bottom of the Ivy standings.
The Blue wasted little time asserting control of their home court. Jumping to a 6-0 lead they dominated the visitors who could neither buy a bucket nor grab a rebound. Though Cornell battled back from this preliminary ineptitude, the Lions held on to their early edge and led at the break 27-22. Intermission featured a pep talk to the student section from recently hired head football coach Pete Mangurian who assured the gathered pride that a new era had begun in Lion gridiron fortunes. Thus encouraged, we turned our attention back to the court, where Cornell challenged Columbia with a couple of runs in the second stanza even closing to within one at 37-36 with over 12 minutes left. Our heroes, however, were never headed and, in fact, extended their advantage to ten before Cornell’s last desperate charge. The Ithacans closed to 56-54 before finally being forced to submit 61-56. Columbia spent the last minutes of the game trudging to the free throw line as Cornell fouled at every opportunity in their comeback attempt. Although it seemed only the Lions lived at the charity stripe, in fact the zebras were so evenhanded that the Big Red tallied 14 of 19 from the foul line on the night while the boys in Blue barely outdid them at 15 of 19.
Free throw efficiency aside, the Lions again struggled offensively shooting only .396 from the field and cashing but 4 treys. Fortunately, 3 Columbians did particularly well. Meiko Lyles, so important in the last four non-league contests tallied 15 to go along with 4 boards. Brian Barbour followed his two 25 point outbursts last weekend with 14 against Cornell and also grabbed 6 boards. The indubitable star of the evening, however was big number 55. Mark Cisco recorded his second straight double double (and third of the season) scoring 18 while grabbing a Levien Gymnasium single game record 20 rebounds. Deservedly Mr. C garnered Ivy League Player of the Week honors.
Once again, however, the Blue succeeded primarily because of outstanding defense and effective rebounding. Coach Smith was particularly pleased with the first half effort in this regard. John Daniels grabbed his customary 6 rebounds and again played the kind of quick, switching defense that makes getting inside against Columbia very difficult this year. Again and again, the Big Red was boxed out to the edges of the paint and forced to settle for difficult, contested jumpers. Cornell Frosh forward Shonn Miller was held to just two points, seven below his average, and right there you have the difference in the game. Coach Smith once again demonstrated his penchant for shaking up the rotation with some interesting decisions. Bench player of the game for the Blue had to be guard Dean Kowalski who mimicked Steve Egee’s work from last weekend and brought defensive energy as well as helpful ball handling to the match. His 11 minutes of play were so efficient that Mr. Egee remained benchbound and jack of all trades Blaise Staab saw a mere three minutes of play. Also missing his usual run, first year center Cory Osetkowski hugged pine all evening.
Two issues worrying your faithful correspondent,before we look ahead. One a personnel issue and the second a point about sloppy execution. Frosh forward Alex Rosenberg cashed 9 points and nabbed a couple of boards. Young AR’s contributions, however, were offset by some errant passes and frequent overdribbling. The first year’s performances to date have been puzzling and Coach Smith has often been pressed about how exactly to greet the youngster coming off the court – pat on the back or kick in the rear. The Lions need his defensive length and aggressive drives to the basket but Rosenberg still needs to understand the right moments and methods for his actions. As a keen admirer of his talent and potential we look forward to the first year’s maturing judgment as the league season wears on. Secondly, the Big Red made their late second half charge off constant double teams on the Lions’ inbound plays. This pressure resulted in many of Cornell’s 10 steals, exactly the number taken by Princeton last week via exactly the same traps. Because of the happy outcome of the night’s entertainment, Coach Smith did not seem overly concerned with this problem, but in a tightly competitive Ivy League every point and possession are precious. The Lions’ turnover rate has to come down for future success.
In any case, the victorious outcome leaves us sanguine for the moment and preparing for future challenges. This Saturday, the boys load up the dog sled for a trip to the Finger Lakes and the completion of their traditional home and away set with Cornell. A fourth consecutive victory over the Big Red would come in handy before the Lions’ first swing into New England as February begins. Dartmouth looks vulnerable but Tommy Amaker’s Crimson crew awaits the evening before Super Bowl Sunday. That will be as tough a game as the Blue face all year.
Go Blue! Roar Lions!
paulie b