Gamecenter: Albany 78, Cornell 75

	1st	2nd	Final
Albany (6-4)	32	46	78
Cornell (4-6)	34	41	75


Newman Arena – Ithaca, NY	Boxscore

Keys to the Game
Key sequence	Louis Dale put Cornell on top by two with a three-pointer at the 3:39 mark of the second half, but Brian Lillis equalized with a layup at the other end, and converted the free throw for a three-point play. Alex Tyler was stuffed trying to score inside at the other end, and Lillis added two free throws to give Albany a 71-68 lead. Graham Dow hit two of his own at the line, and after a missed layup and a charging call on the Great Danes, the Big Red had a chance to reclaim the lead. But Lillis picked off Dow’s pass in front of the Cornell bench and took it in for a breakaway layup and foul, airballing the free throw. Ryan Wittman misfired on a long two-point jumper, then Jason Siggers hit one of two at the line to make it a multiple-possession game with 74 ticks left.
Key sign it was over	Trailing by four with under a minute left, Dow drove down the lane for a layup to bring Cornell within two. However, Jamar Wilson hit a big pull-up jumper in traffic to restore the margin to four with only 19 seconds remaining. A Dale three-pointer with a hand in his face kept the Big Red alive, down one with 11.8 seconds left. But after two Jamar Wilson free throws with 8.0 left, Dale drew nothing but air on a leaning, one-handed three-point attempt that would have sent the game into overtime. Lillis controlled the rebound and Cornell felt the all-too-familiar sting of a narrow defeat.
Key performance	Brent Wilson was incredibly effective for the Great Danes, scoring a team-high 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting and grabbing four rebounds and dishing out an assist in 20 turnover-free minutes. Wilson scored 12 of those 19 points in the second half, with 10 coming in the first five minutes of the half.
Key statistic	On the strength of 63.6-percent shooting, Albany scored 46 points on 34 second-half possessions. The Great Danes also went 15-for-20 from the line after halftime en route to a 1.35 offensive efficiency.

Notes

– Steve Donahue once again got great scoring performances out of his freshman guards, as Dale (22 points) and Wittman (20 points) led the way for the Big Red. Dale continued to get to the line (eight free throws) and recorded more assists than turnovers for the third consecutive game.

– Cornell shot the ball well from inside (54.8 percent) the arc, outside the arc (40.0 percent), and at the line (89.5 percent).

– The Great Danes owned an 18-8 edge in the paint in the first 20 minutes, but the Big Red fared much better in the second half, outscoring Albany 12-8 inside.

– Conor Mullen saw his first major playing time since his big game against VMI, logging 29 minutes off the bench and scoring five points.

– After winning two close games to start the season, Cornell now has dropped the last five games decided by four or fewer points or in overtime.

– The Big Red will look to end the string of tough losses in Andrew Naeve’s Hawkeye State homecoming when Cornell plays at Iowa (6-6) on Saturday, December 30, at 1:00 pm ET.

Basketball U.

Gamecenter: Albany 78, Cornell 75

Jake Wilson

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Jake Wilson

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Basketball U.