PHILADELPHIA - Toledo couldn't overcome a veteran Cornell squad yesterday afternoon as it came up on the short end of a 78-60 decision to the two-time defending Ivy League champions at Drexel's Daskalakis Center. The defeat dropped UT's record to 0-4, while the Big Red improved to 3-2.
Redshirt freshman Stephen Albrecht spearheaded the Rocket offense with his second straight 20-point outing. Fellow freshman Jake Barnett joined him in double figures with 13 points.
Cornell put five players in double figures led by senior Ryan Wittman's 20 points, while Louis Dale nearly registered a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Geoff Reeves, Jeff Foote, and Alex Tyler tallied 14, 12, and 10 points, respectively.
"We battled back today but Cornell's seniors took over," Toledo coach Gene Cross said. "We didn't have enough left in the tank to get us over the hump against their older guys."
Toledo entered the second half facing a 41-27 deficit but was able to slowly trim Cornell's advantage. Barnett's three-point play began the Rockets' rally with 12:08 remaining to bring UT within single digits 56-47.
Back-to-back treys from Barnett and sophomore Jay Shunnar made it a three-point contest 56-53 and forced a Big Red timeout. Wittman's jumper put an end to the 9-0 spurt, but freshman Jordan Dressler answered right back with a layup making it a 58-55 contest with 9:41 to play."We showed we have grit and toughness by coming back," Cross said. "We just can't have it come in spurts. It has to be consistent throughout an entire 40 minutes."
The Rocket offense then went silent for a couple of minutes as the Big Red responded with a nine-point run of their own for a 67-55 lead with 7:40 to play. Toledo wasn't done yet though as a Dressler layup and a pair of Barnett free throws reduced Cornell's lead to 67-59 a minute later. On its next possession, UT had a chance to make it a two-possession game but Dressler's layup rimmed out.
The Big Red then followed by scoring six straight points to put the game out of reach.
Search
advertisement
