Swider, Boeheim brothers spark Syracuse past Cornell

Dec 30, 2021, 02:24 am

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- — Cole Swider scored 21 points, including eight in a row to spark a second-half breakaway, and Syracuse defeated Cornell 80-68 on Wednesday night.

Buddy Boeheim scored 22 points and Jimmy Boeheim, who previously had been a starter for Cornell, added 16 with seven rebounds. The Orange (7-5) shot 57%, making 32 of 57.

Cornell (8-3), ranked second in the nation in scoring at 88.1 points per game, was held to 35% shooting (23 of 65) and struck from deep with 15 3-pointers. Big Red put up a program-record 44 3-point attempts.

Cornell distributed 21 assists on 23 baskets.

Keller Boothby paced Cornell with 20 points with nearly all his scoring from beyond the arc, making 6 of 11. Guy Ragland added 16 points with four 3-pointers.

The New York schools are familiar foes, meeting for the 126th time. Syracuse pushed its win streak in the series to 41 straight.

Syracuse built a 17-2 lead only to see Cornell cut a 13-point gap to 34-29 at the half, making 6 3-pointers in the final seven minutes.

The Big Red stayed close in the early going of the second half before Syracuse broke away to a 60-43 lead with a 16-6 run over five minutes in the middle of the period, sparked by Swider's eight straight points. The Orange were 6-for-7 shooting during the push, making both 3-point tries while Cornell went scoreless for three minutes.

Cornell was coming off a three-week break after two COVID-prompted cancellations. The game, originally scheduled for Dec. 21, was back on the schedule to replace Syracuse's postponed Atlantic Coast Conference meeting with Georgia Tech.

Syracuse gets back into ACC play on Saturday against visiting Virginia. Cornell opens Ivy League play against visiting Dartmouth on Sunday.

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