AK Okereke scored a career-high 24 points and Cooper Noard added 21 as visiting Cornell held on to end a 42-game losing streak against Atlantic Coast Conference teams with an 88-80 victory over Cal on Tuesday at Berkeley, Calif.
Nazir Williams scored 18 points and Jake Fiegen had 11 as Cornell (7-3) extended its winning streak to three and earned its first victory over an ACC school since beating Wake Forest on Dec. 27, 1951.
Cal erased a 23-point second-half deficit and took a 72-71 lead with 5:15 remaining before Cornell went on a 11-2 run over the next 4:12, with Fiegen converting a three-point play with 1:34 remaining for a 79-74 lead.
Joshua Ola-Joseph scored 21 points with eight rebounds for Cal (6-4) and Andrej Stojakovic added 13 after not scoring in the first half. Mady Sissoko also scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Jeremiah Wilkinson had 12 points and Jovan Blacksher Jr. delivered 11 points and seven assists as the Golden Bears lost their third consecutive game.
Cornell took charge in the first half with a 13-3 run to take a 27-16 lead with 8:27 remaining before halftime and finished the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 47-29 lead into the break.
Cornell shot 55.6 percent from the floor in the first half, while forcing Cal into 13 turnovers. The Golden Bears entered with an average of 13.1 turnovers per game. Stojakovic did not score for Cal in eight minutes of floor time in the first half, while slowed by foul trouble.
Cornell scored the first five points of the second half to take a 52-29 lead before Cal made a series of runs. The Golden Bears cut their deficit to 54-40 with 16:29 remaining on a tip-in by Stojakovic, then closed to 56-48 with 13:58 remaining on a jumper from Ola-Joseph.
An 11-2 run gave Cal their only lead of the second half at 72-71 with just over five minutes remaining before Cornell regrouped to close out the victory down the stretch.
–Field Level Media
