In a thrilling victory on Monday, the men’s basketball team (9-7, 1-2 Ivy) defeated Cornell (10-6, 2-1 Ivy) 83-82, bouncing back from a tough loss to Harvard on Saturday. Forward Aaron Cooley ’25 buoyed the Bears with an incredible performance, scoring a career-high 28 points.
Cooley set the tone early, hustling to turn multiple missed shots into scoring opportunities. On Brown’s first possession of the game, he grabbed his own missed layup, kicking the ball out to the perimeter before making a corner three.
With just under eight minutes to play in the first half, Cooley played another offensive rebound, drawing a foul that earned him two free throws. From that point on, he played a perfect 9-for-9 from the field, finishing the game 10-for-13 overall.
Bruno’s triumph over Cornell marks Brown’s first conference win of the season after opening with losses to Yale and Harvard. “Just going out there and playing confidently” was what made the difference in Cooley’s performance, he wrote in an email to The Herald.
“I also think it was remembering my ‘whys,’” he added. “Friends and family go a long way with helping reset mentally especially after going down 0-2 to start … as well as just knowing no matter what the score looked like at the end of the game that I gave it my all for myself and my teammates.”
In an intense back-and-forth game, Brown trailed 49-43 at halftime. Yet they quickly climbed back, taking their first lead of the half with just over 14 minutes left. The Big Red did not give up, holding an 82-79 advantage with two minutes remaining. Despite their lead, the Bears’ defense was stellar, holding Cornell scoreless in the final two minutes.
With the game tied at 82, point guard Kino Lilly Jr. ’25 drew a foul and made a clutch free throw to give Brown a one-point lead. Cornell’s final attempt at victory failed after Guy Ragland Jr.’s three-point shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded. Bruno left Ithaca with a big win.
Cooley underscored the importance of Ivy League play for the Bears’ postseason aspirations. “Every conference game is its own playoff game,” he wrote. “For us to be one of the top four at the end of the season, we have to give everything we got, because nothing is certain after these 14 games in the conference.”
The Bears’ performance against Cornell highlighted their grit after a disappointing home loss to Harvard just two days earlier.
Bruno’s 9-7 record marks a sharp improvement from last year, when the Bears struggled out of the gate. In the 2023-24 season, they won just four of their first 16 games before going on a magical run to the Ivy League Championship game. This year, despite tough competition against No. 10 Kentucky and No. 8 Kansas in the initial games, Brown battled to a 9-7 start, their best in six years.
Brown’s early-season success is particularly impressive considering multiple key player departures since last season. In addition to three players graduating and another transferring, the Bears lost big man Nana Owusu-Anane ’25, a Second Team All-Ivy selection last year, to a season-ending shoulder injury in early October.
Cooley emphasized that the Bears’ ‘next man up’ mindset has been a driving force behind their strong start. “We lost a lot of guys from last year,” he wrote, but “everyone in the locker room still wants to be a part of something special and to do that takes sacrifices, effort and adapting to adversity.”
And adapt they have. Brown has enjoyed a career-best season from nearly every member of the rotation. Lewis, a new starter, leads the team, averaging 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Cooley’s 12.1 points per game are nearly double his scoring average last season. In addition, Lyndel Erold ’25 has five games with at least 10 points, while N’famara Dabo ’27 ranks second among all Ivy League players in blocks per game.
“We’ve hit some bumps in the road from injuries, rotation changes and losses, but what stays true is our desire to show up every day,” Cooley wrote. “I think that drive to improve and do better has shown on our record thus far.”
Brown hosts Dartmouth at 2 p.m. on Saturday as Ivy League play continues.
Gus Bailey is a senior staff writer covering the sports beat. He is a sophomore studying applied math-economics. His interests include data analytics, marketing, social media and of course, sports.
