Second Half Comeback Propels Brown Bears Past Cornell

Brown University Press Release

Providence, R.I. – Junior forward Cedric Kuakumensah connected on an off-balance jump shot in the lane with 1.4 seconds remaining as Brown rallied from a 17-point second half deficit to defeat Cornell, 57-56, in an Ivy league game at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

The Bears improve to 12-15 overall, 3-7 in the Ivy League, while Cornell falls to 12-14 overall, 4-6 in Ivy play.

Trailing 56-52, Brown sophomore guard JR Hobbie connected on a trey with 2:03 left to draw the Bears to within one point, 56-55.

Kuakumensah blocked a shot by Cornell’s Darryl Smith with 19 seconds left, giving Brown the last possession.

Following a timeout with 9.6 seconds remaining, Kuakumensah caught the inbounds pass near the mid court line, and was unable to hand off to Bears’ sophomore point guard Tavon Blackmon. With the clock running down, Kuakumensah dribbled into the lane, and shot an off-balance jumper that bounced around the rim several times before falling through with 1.4 seconds remaining.

“That was not exactly how we drew it up,” said Brown head coach Mike Martin, “but I’m proud of our team for staying in the game when we fell behind.  Cedric was forced to make a play at the end of the game and he made a terrific play against one of the best defenders (Shonn Miller) in the Ivy League.”

Kuakumensah finished the game with 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots. He moved into sole possession of second place in all-time Ivy league blocked shots with 230, trailing the all-time mark of 252 blocks by Dartmouth’s Brian Gilpin from 1993-1997.

Blackmon paced the Bears’ attack by scoring 11 of his team high 17 points in the second half. Hobbie finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, and sophomore Steven Spieth chipped in with 11 points. 

Senior forward Rafael Maia pulled down a game high 11 rebounds for the Bears and handed out a career high six assists.

Kuakumensah’s heroics overshadowed a terrific performance by Cornell’s Shonn Miller, who scored 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, while grabbing eight rebounds.  Galal Cancer also scored in double figures for the Big Red with 13 points.

Brown held a 16-15 lead at the 11:25 mark the opening half when Hobbie connected on his third consecutive trey.

The Big Red responded with a 17-1 run to grab a 32-17 lead on a trey by Cancer with 3:02 remaining in the half. Miller had six points in the spurt.

A late Brown run by the Bears cut Cornell’s lead to 34-23 at halftime.

Cornell picked up in the second half where it left off in the opening 20 minutes, scoring the first six points to pull ahead by a 40-23 margin.

Brown got back in the game with an 12-0 run, to cut Cornell’s lead to just five points, 40-35, with Spieth’s seven points sparking the Bears’ run.

A fast break trey by Blackmon with 7:08 left in the game drew the Bears to within three points, 47-44.

Brown completes its Pizzitola Sports Center home schedule next week, hosting Penn on Friday, February 27 at 7 pm, and Princeton on Saturday, February 28 at 6 pm. Saturday’s game against the Tigers is Senior Night, with seniors Rafael Maia, Jon Schmidt, Dockery Walker and Longji Yiljep being honored in ceremonies prior to the game.