Cornell Basketball

Cornell lived up to its expectations as the best team to come out of the Ivy League in more than a decade, and now the senior squad have a chance for a nice run in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament.Down to their last chance to experience success on college basketball's biggest tournament, seniors Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote led the school to its first win in five NCAA appearances.Dale scored 21 points and Wittman, who is the Ivy League player of the year, had 20 for the Big Red. He also led the nation in 3 point shooting this season and is a strong guard, experienced leader. And a 7-foot center in Foote make them a threat to advance beyond the first weekend of the tournament.

Cornell (28-4) made eight of its first 10 shots and never looked back, shooting 68 percent in the opening half and 56 percent for the game.Temple (29-6) lost in the first round for the third straight year under coach Fran Dunphy, whose former assistant, Steve Donahue has led Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles and the best season in school history. Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks each had 14 points for Temple. Lavoy Allen contributed 11 in a tough lost. Having gone through a non-conference schedule that included games against Kansas, Syracuse, Seton Hall, St. John's and Alabama, Donahue felt that Cornell was prepared this year to face a tough opponent such as Temple, one of the nation's strongest defensive teams. Cornell lost by 24 to Stanford in 2008 and 19 to Missouri a year ago, and entered this year's tournament determined to make the most of the last opportunity Wittman, Foote, Dale and Jon Jacques who are seniors this year.

Dunphy, who's been at Temple since 2006, fell to 1-12 in the NCAA tournament and has lost 11 straight.The Owls coach appeared in the tournament nine times in 17 seasons at Penn, where Donahue was an assistant under him for 10 years. They remain close, and Dunphy admitted that he did not like the fact of facing his former assistant.Temple trailed 37-29 at the half and was fortunate to be that close. The Owls uncharacteristically turned the ball over nine times, with Cornell coming up with seven steals while playing tight man-to-man defense and occasionally switching to a 1-3-1 zone that made it difficult to get the ball inside.Cornell's lead would have bigger if its 3-point shooters hadn't struggled from beyond the arc. The Big Red were 13 of 19 from the field at the break, and five of those six misses were 3-pointers that could have extended their lead enormously.After missing on its first two 3-point attempts of the second half, Cornell's shooters caught fire. Jon Jacques hit a long 3, then Wittman made three straight during a stretch in which the Big Red went on another run to lead 51-42. The closest Temple would get the rest of the way was seven. Cornell will advanced to the next round to face an even tougher opponent.