Cornell disarmed Army’s attack on Tuesday night at Newman Arena, pulling away late behind a barrage of threes and a major spark from its bench to claim an 86–73 win in its home opener.
“Army, they've played us really tough,” said head coach Jon Jaques ’10. “They played hard and physical and made many things difficult, which are what well-coached teams are going to do. I thought in the first half, it was a little sloppy. Early second half, they made some shots, and then I thought midway through the second, we kind of settled in.”
The Red (2–2) entered fresh off its first win of the season at Lafayette, but it was Army that landed the early punches. The Black Knights jumped out to an 8–3 lead before senior guard and captain Cooper Noard steadied Cornell, scoring the team’s first seven points. From there, the offense arrived in waves — first through senior guard Corbin Zentner, who drilled back-to-back threes off the bench, then through senior forward Adam Hinton, who attacked the rim for nine early points. Toward the midpoint of the first half, the Red asserted itself, jumping out to a 26-18.
As Cornell settled in, its defensive pressure began to even further tilt the game. The Red turned Army’s possessions into tough, late-clock attempts, fueling transition opportunities that stretched the lead as high as 12. Late in the first half, a chase-down block by sophomore forward Gio Panzini led to a transition and-one from senior forward D.J. Nix, who completed the three-point play to make it 36–24 — the peak of a 16–6 run.
The Black Knights army-crawled back within eight in the final minute, but Nix buried a triple with seconds left in the first half to restore momentum and send Cornell into the break ahead 39–28.
At half, Noard had nine points, Hinton had 11 points and seven rebounds and Zentner had six points on two threes off the bench. The Red forced eight turnovers.
“Corbin Zenter made a few big threes in the first half that kind of loosened things up,” Jaques said. “When we were struggling to get easy shots, he made a couple. Adam, a couple nice drives, and Cooper's getting a lot of attention now as he should, so I think other guys just made plays.”
But Army came out of the locker room with renewed fire. Crisp ball movement, downhill drives and defensive pressure allowed the Black Knights to slash Cornell’s lead down to 41–37, then 44–42, forcing the Red to regroup.
That’s when the threes returned, and this time, they came in bunches.
A corner triple from sophomore guard Mateen Rafiq sparked the surge. Zentner followed with another, stretching the lead back to eight. Rafiq added two more from deep, junior forward Kaspar Sepp joined the run with a three of his own, and suddenly Cornell had rebuilt a 17-point cushion, up 79-62 with only 2:44 left in the second half. A tough and-one finish from Nix in the final minutes sealed the win as the Red never let Army climb back within striking distance.
The bench was the game’s turning point: Rafiq and Zentner combined to go 7-for-9 from three and delivered 24 crucial points combined, twelve a piece.
Hinton, who finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals, said the win reflected the team’s toughness and depth.
“I thought it was a nice gritty win,” Hinton said. “There are going to be a lot of Ivy League games like this down the stretch. I was really proud of how the guys stepped out, especially a lot of the younger guys. I thought they really did well.”
He added that the team’s chemistry — especially in big moments — is the engine behind nights like this.
“All the guys, they're all excited for each other,” Hinton said. “We're really tight knit, and we just have fun with each other every day. Every single person looks at each other like brothers, it's just one big family.”
Five Cornell players reached double figures, with Nix adding 12 points (along with the four aforementioned players). Sepp logged seven points and 10 rebounds and junior guard Jacob Beccles was a playmaker, dishing out four assists.
Jaques emphasized that the Red’s identity continues to lie in pace and movement.
“We have one of the fastest teams in the country, tempo-wise the last few years,” Jaques said. “We want to play fast with pace. If we don't get an early shot, just move the ball, dip it around, not too many wasted dribbles, we want to play fast, we also want to be smart. When we're playing well, we do both of those things.”
With three road games behind them, Jaques said the return to Newman Arena was a refreshing feeling.
“It’s awesome. We're really happy to be here. It's great to get started and hopefully Thursday, we have a nice crowd, because Colgate’s a really good team.”
Cornell faces Colgate on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Newman Arena. The game will stream 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.
