National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Syracuse 61, Cornell 44
When: 6:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York
Officials: # Brian Dorsey, # Tim Kelly, # Matt Potter
Attendance: 19288

Syracuse 61, Cornell 44: Rakeem Christmas scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the host Orange coasted in their final non-conference game.

Trevor Cooney added 14 points for Syracuse (9-4), which has defeated Cornell 34 straight times. Chris McCullough finished with six points, seven boards, two steals and two blocks as the Orange held an opponent under 50 points for the sixth time.

Shonn Miller scored 12 points to lead the Big Red (6-7), who shot 34.5 percent. JoJo Fallas tied a career high with 11 points and made a personal-best three steals off the bench.

Neither team scored until Christmas' basket nearly four minutes into the contest, and Cornell's first points came on a hoop by Fallas with 13:04 to go in the first half as the Orange slowly built a 14-2 lead. Fallas and Robert Hatter made 3-pointers in a short span to pull the Big Red within 16-10 with 3:32 remaining, but Cooney answered with one in the closing seconds to make it 23-12 at the break.

Cooney scored five points during a 7-0 burst shortly after halftime and Christmas later provided back-to-back hoops to push the lead to 39-17 with 14 minutes left. Cornell never got closer than 14 points down the stretch.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Syracuse opens ACC play Saturday at Virginia Tech. ... The Orange made 4-of-12 3-pointers while the Big Red went 4-for-22. ... Cornell last defeated Syracuse on Dec. 4, 1968.
Top Game Performances
 
Cornell   Syracuse
Shonn Miller 12 Scoring Rakeem Christmas 19
Galal Cancer 6 Assists Trevor Cooney 4
Shonn Miller 5 Rebounds Rakeem Christmas 9
Braxston Bunce 1 Free Throws Made Trevor Cooney 4
JoJo Fallas 3 Steals Trevor Cooney 3
Shonn Miller 2 Blocks Rakeem Christmas 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Cornell 44 34.5 4-22 2-5 13 26 3 8 18
Syracuse 61 48.1 4-12 7-11 16 29 5 12 14