NEW YORK, N.Y. –– For the second night in a row, the men’s basketball team lived up to the expectations that come with playing on sports’ most hallowed ground –– defeating St. John’s, 71-66, in a dramatic come-from-behind win to clinch the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival title. In a game where the Red Storm defense managed to limit Cornell top-scorer Ryan Wittman to just 10 points, senior tri-captain Jon Jaques rose to the occasion, notching a career-high 20 points to lead both teams while shooting a scorching 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Check www.cornellsun.com later tonight for a full game recap

Men's basketball 71, St. John's 66

Senior tri-captains Jon Jaques, with a team-high 20 points, and Jeff Foote, with 19 points and 11 rebounds, led Cornell to the Holiday Festival title with a 71-66 win over the Red Storm. This is the Red's first tournament victory since the Cornell Invitational in the 1989-90 season.

By Daniel Popko

Sun Contributor

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Down 80-75 with less than a minute remaining, the men’s basketball team was unable to convert on a fast break off a steal, missing a jumper that Anthony Mason Jr. took the other way for an easy lay-up.

St. John’s made its free throws down the stretch and walked out of Boston College’s Conte Forum with an 86-75 victory in the first round of the Dick’s NIT Season Tip-Off. Mason Jr. finished the game with 24 points to lead the Red Storm while sophomore D.J. Kennedy contributed 16 of his 22 points in the first half.