Men’s basketball appeared on the ropes in the first half against Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. Down 16 on the road, the Red were getting outshot and outpaced by a confident Crimson group that appeared firmly in control.
Then senior guard Adam Hinton changed the game — and Cornell changed the tone.
Behind a strong second-half surge and a closing stretch defined by Hinton’s biggest shots and toughest defensive plays, Cornell (9-9, 2-3 Ivy) erased the deficit and stunned Harvard, 86-79. The victory marked the Red’s second straight Ivy League road win and one of the largest road comebacks by the program this century.
“I’m just really proud of the resilience and response against a good team on the road,” said Head Coach Jon Jaques ’10. “We stayed poised and found a way to claw our way back. The surge in the second half was awesome.”
Harvard (10-9, 3-2 Ivy) controlled much of the opening half, pushing the lead as high as 16. Cornell struggled to string together defensive stops, and the Crimson capitalized with clean looks and early offense.
Just before the break, however, the Red grabbed a crucial sliver of momentum.
With one second remaining in the half, Hinton buried a deep three to cut the deficit to eight. The shot didn’t erase the damage, but it changed the complexion of the game heading into the locker room.
“It’s a big difference between being down 11 and being down eight,” Jaques said. “You go into the locker room feeling like you have some juice.”
Cornell still trailed 44-36 at halftime. What followed was a complete reversal.
After teams traded baskets early in the second half, Cornell seized control with an 18-0 run, flipping a nine-point deficit into a nine-point lead. Defensive stops fueled the surge, and the Red punished Harvard in transition as the Crimson went scoreless for nearly five minutes.
“We talked about how we wanted to guard them,” Jaques said. “Early in the game, we didn’t execute defensively. Then we started getting stops at the end of the half, built off that, built confidence, and got stops to start the second half.”
As Harvard mounted a late push, the Red leaned on Hinton, who delivered in every way imaginable.
With under a minute remaining and Harvard clinging to a one-point lead, Hinton knocked down a go-ahead corner three that bounced around the rim before falling. On the ensuing possession, he came up with a steal and calmly converted free throws to seal the win.
Hinton finished with a game-high 27 points on 9-16 shooting and 6-9 from beyond the arc, along with five rebounds, a block and a steal. Jaques emphasized Hinton’s impact on both sides of the ball.
“Adam came through with some big plays — defensively too,” Jaques said. “He got a couple big steals, deflections, rebounds, in addition to those big buckets.”
Cornell leaned heavily on its veteran backcourt throughout the afternoon. The Red’s senior guards Cooper Noard and Jake Fiegen contributed flashes of brilliance. Noard secured a 19 point performance, while Fiegen chipped in 15 points, four assists and four rebounds. Junior forward Kaspar Sepp anchored the glass with nine rebounds and four assists as Cornell edged Harvard on the boards.
After allowing Harvard to score freely early, the Red tightened defensively, holding the Crimson to a subpar shooting performance after halftime. Jaques said the improvement reflects a growing defensive identity.
“We’re building confidence defensively,” Jaques said. “We are getting better every game and just figuring out the nuances and the little tweaks that this team needs to have to be successful. The guys are gaining some confidence and we're starting to figure it out as a group.”
That composure showed late. Cornell went 21-26 at the free-throw line and forced key turnovers in the final minutes, closing the game strongly. Jaques made it clear that his team’s maturity and ability to handle adversity have been apparent.
“They’re tough,” Jaques said. “A large number of them have been part of a lot of winning, so they’re used to it. The competition is outstanding every night, and we knew it would be that way. There's no easy game where you can just show up and hope it goes well. You have to execute, follow a game plan, be disciplined and make winning plays.”
Five games into Ivy League play, the Red is learning that consistency and execution are vital.
“This group has to find and enjoy its own identity,” Jaques said. “That’s how this group is going to win. And they’re starting to figure that out.”
Cornell returns home at 6 p.m. on Friday to host Princeton at Newman Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Austin Curtis is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a Sun Staff Writer and can be reached at acurtis@cornellsun.com.
