ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team was undone by a three-point barrage in the second half of Monday's game at Cornell, as the Big Red knocked down 10 treys in the final 20 minutes and pulled away for a 77-60 win at Newman Arena.
 
Penn was down just 41-38 five minutes into the second half, but the Big Red knocked down three treys in a 55-second span to push their lead to double digits. Another stretch saw Cornell hit five of six trey attempts in a 3:20 span in blowing out to a 69-47 advantage and the hosts cruised from there.
 
Penn fell to 9-8 overall and is now 1-1 in Ivy League play. Cornell improved to 12-3 overall and remained unbeated in Ivy play at 2-0.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn knocked down 10 three-pointers on the day, the third straight game and tenth time this season that has happened.
 
*Penn outrebounded Cornell on the day, 35-32; the Quakers entered the game with the best rebound margin among Ivy League teams.
 
*Junior Reese McMullen hit double digits for the second straight game, scoring a career-high 15 points to lead Penn. His three treys also are a career best.
 
*Junior Nick Spinoso collected his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and he also led the Quakers with four assists.
 
*Freshman Sam Brown was Penn's third double-digit scorer on Monday, with 11 points as he knocked down a trio of treys.
 
*Cornell put four players in double figures in the scoring column: Chris Manon (18 points), Guy Ragland Jr. (16), Nazir Williams (10) and Isaiah Gray (10). Manon also had eight rebounds, five assists and a game-high four steals.

How It Happened
The first half was a back-and-forth affair as the teams tied seven times and the lead changed hands five times. Penn was up 26-22 and had a look to go up 29-22 on an open trey, but it didn't fall and instead Cornell scored on its next three possessions to take a 28-26 lead. That forced a Penn timeout with 2:41 left. However, a Brown trey put the Quakers in front in the final minute of the half, then a nice play got Spinoso a layup ahead of the buzzer. Penn's lead was 31-28 at break.
 
Cornell was just 4-18 from three-point land in the opening 20 minutes, but Manon immediately reversed those fortunes out of the locker room. He hit treys on the Big Red's first two possessions of the period, then scored another bucket to push Cornell in front, 36-31, forcing a quick Penn timeout. Out of the stoppage, Brown followed his missed triple for a mid-range jumper, then a Spinoso bucket quickly got Penn within 36-35. The Quakers had chances to take the lead a few times, but Cornell eventually went on a five-point run to go back up 41-35 out of the under-16 media.
 
It was 41-38 when Ragland drained a pair of treys around an Andrew Laczkowski layup, then a Penn turnover turned into a Jake Fiegen triple. The trio of treys covered 55 seconds and suddenly Cornell's lead was double digits for the first time in the game, 50-40. Penn head coach Steve Donahue called his second timeout of the half, and out of the stoppage McMullen skied a layup high off the glass and in. However, Cornell answered with a Manon dunk and Cornell's lead was 52-42 at the under-12 media.
 
Any thoughts of a comeback were quickly squelched. Keller Boothby hit a triple out of the stoppage, one of three the Big Red hit in a 73-second span to go up 61-44. Gray answered a Spinoso free throw with another triple, and then a McMullen putback was followed by a Cooper Noard backdoor layup and a Williams three. In all, it was a 17-5 run in the mini-game from the under-12 to the under-8 as Cornell's lead ballooned to 22 at 69-47.
 
The closest Penn got the rest of the way was 16, at 73-57 with a little less than three minutes to play.
 
Up Next
Penn is back at home on Saturday, hosting Harvard at 6 p.m. Saturday's game with the Crimson will air nationally on ESPNU.
 
For the latest on Penn men's basketball, follow @PennMBB on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.