ITHACA, N.Y. — Jake Fiegen hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with one second left as Cornell upset first-place Yale 72-69 on Friday night to keep pace in the Ivy League postseason chase.
Cornell entered the day having lost five straight games against Yale, its last win coming Feb. 23, 2024. That included a 34-point loss to the Bulldogs earlier this season.
With the win, Cornell (13-12) improved to 6-6 in Ivy League play and moved into sole possession of fourth place in the regular-season standings with two games remaining. The top four teams advance to the Ivy Madness tournament, with the winner securing the league’s automatic NCAA bid.
Fiegen scored 17 points to lead five double-figure scorers for the Big Red and also contributed eight rebounds and four assists. He shot 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc
Cooper Noard added 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds. Josh Baldwin was 4-of-5 from the field (3-for-4 from 3) en route to finishing with 13 points.
As a team, Cornell shot 14-of-35 from 3-point range, with nine of those coming in the first half. The Big Red led by as many as 14 before the Bulldogs battled back to tie the score at 69 on a Nick Townsend layup with seven seconds remaining.
“We started out lousy in three of our last four games and put ourselves in a hole that we had to dig out of,” Yale coach James Jones said. “It’s great that the guys were able to fight back and get back into it, but we’ve got to do a better job of starting each half.”
Cornell won the rebounding battle 31-28 and outscored Yale 12-3 on second-chance points.
Casey Simmons, Isaac Celiscar and Townsend led the way for the Bulldogs (21-5, 9-3) with 14 points apiece. The loss snapped Yale’s five-game winning streak.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
