Brown survives Elis' run for first Ivy victory
Brown survived a late comeback attempt by Yale Saturday and escaped with a 67-62 win, avenging its Ivy League-opening loss in New Haven the previous week.
Yale played solid early on and led 16-9 less than eight minutes into the game. The Bears, though, answered with a 19-3 run -- including seven points in a two-minute span from junior guard Marcus Becker -- that gave them the lead for good.
Brown held a 39-30 lead at halftime and stretched the margin to 18 midway through the second frame. But the Elis kept things interesting with a 16-6 run, cutting the lead to five on a three-pointer from freshman Travis Pinick.
That was as close as it got, though, as Yale could not score again until the last second of the game. Brown sophomore Keenan Jeppesen pulled down a key defensive rebound in the final minute to secure the victory.
Jeppesen was a defensive force all night, notching six defensive boards and five steals. The Elis' offensive carelessness may have been the difference, as the Bears scored 26 points off turnovers compared to Yale's eight.
Both teams' records evened to 1-1 in the Ivy League.
-- Andrew Scurria
Lions end losing skid with win in Ithaca
Dragutin Kravic drained a three-point shot with 2.5 seconds remaining to lift Columbia to its first Ivy League victory Saturday night in a 58-57 win over Cornell in Ithaca.
The Big Red took a double-digit lead midway into the second frame, but Kravic nailed two free throws -- after Columbia had missed four field goals on the same possession -- to ignite a 21-9 run that gave the Lions the lead.
Forward Lenny Collins kept Cornell in the game, scoring all seven of his team's points over the last three minutes. He could only watch, however, as Kravic put the Lions on top for good.
The Serbian native finished with 10 points -- he was one of four Columbia players to reach double digits -- and a game-high eight rebounds in just 25 minutes.
For the Big Red, Collins dropped 18 points and freshman Adam Gore finished with 17 on a 6-for-11 performance from the field.
The victory pushed the Lions back to an even 8-8 record and snapped a six-game Division I losing streak.
Cornell, meanwhile, fell to 6-11 overall and 1-2 in the Ancient Eight.
Columbia had not beaten the Big Red on the road since 2002.
-- A.S.
