Lycoming News

The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team faced a challenging match against Cornell on Friday night at The Palestra. Despite an early lead, Penn was unable to maintain its advantage as Cornell secured an 87-81 victory.

Penn started strong, scoring the first 12 points and extending their lead to 14 in the first half. However, Cornell fought back to tie the game at 56-56. In a closely contested battle, Cornell managed to score seven of the last eight points, breaking an 80-80 tie to clinch the win.

With this result, Penn's record fell to 10-17 overall and 2-10 in Ivy League play. Meanwhile, Cornell remains tied for the top spot in the Ivy standings with Princeton and Yale, all holding a 10-2 record. Overall, Cornell improved to 21-5.

Key performances for Penn included senior Clark Slajchert leading with 22 points and sophomore Cam Thrower contributing 15 points. Freshman Sam Brown also added another 15 points while junior Nick Spinoso had a notable performance with a game-high of 14 rebounds.

Cornell's success was marked by four players reaching double figures: AK Okereke scored 18 points, Cooper Noard added 13, Chris Manon had 11, and Nazir Williams recorded ten. The Big Red notably scored without committing any turnovers in the second half.

The match saw Penn taking an early commanding lead with three-pointers from Slajchert and George Smith but struggled as Cornell responded effectively throughout both halves. Despite efforts from Slajchert and others towards the end of the game, missed opportunities allowed Cornell to secure their victory.

Penn will continue their Ivy League weekend facing Columbia next at The Palestra following a women's game against Harvard.