Game of the Week: Cornell Over UMass

In an impressive follow-up to its win over Alabama, Cornell notched its second win of the season with a 74-61 defeat of UMass in the Legends Classic. Despite getting only 4 points from star swingman Ryan Wittman, the outcome was never in doubt, as the team got 24 from Louis Dale and several impressive performances off the bench.

Cornell’s defense also made a strong showing against the quick Minutemen guards. The Big Red forced UMass into 19 turnovers and a shooting percentage south of 40%. UMass star Ricky Harris poured in 26 points in the loss, passing legends Julius Erving and Marcus Camby on the team’s all-time scoring list in the process.

Player of the Week: Brian Grimes, Columbia F

It’s not exactly a regular occurrence to see an Ivy forward post a double-double in back-to-back out-of-conference games. So we salute Columbia’s Brian Grimes, who did exactly that this week in consecutive tilts against DePaul and Longwood.

In a tight game against big East foe DePaul that the Lions eventually lost 59-53, the 6’7” Grimes battled inside for 13 points and 11 rebounds, picking up only one personal foul in the process. He was able to follow up that performance with 14 points and 13 rebounds against Longwood, shooting from the field at a 77% clip.

Honorable Mention: Yale G Alex Zampier averaged 21 points per game in the Elis’ three contests, including a 29 point outburst in a loss to Quinnipiac.

Near-Miss of the Week: Brown at St. John’s

Brown almost pulled off a big upset in Queens, taking St. John’s down to the wire before eventually falling 79-76. Facing a 10-point deficit at the half, the Bears chipped away at the Red Storm’s lead throughout the 2nd half, cutting the margin to 1 on freshman F Tucker Halpern’s three-pointer with just over a minute to go. The teams traded baskets before a pair of St. John’s free throws made it a three point game, and it would stay that way as Adrian Williams missed what would have been the tying shot with a second left.

In addition to strong performances from standouts Matt Mullery and Peter Sullivan, the Bears also got big contributions from Halpern and fellow freshman Andrew McCarthy. PG Steve Gruber also added 14 points and 5 assists before fouling out.