The Syracuse Orange returned to the Dome, where they began the season 3-0, after losing two on neutral court at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, versus the Texas Longhorns of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Texas Tech Red Raiders of the Big 12 Conference.
Cornell Big Red entered the Dome with a 4-2 record, starting off 2-0 and going 202 since then.
Syracuse leads Cornell all-time with a record of 97-31 and has won the last 43 games against Cornell.
The Big Red began with a 10-0 lead before the Orange scored thanks to a jumper in the paint by true freshman forward Donnie Freeman at the 16:36 mark.
Over four minutes would pass between points for Syracuse, with a layup at the 12:29 mark by junior forward Chris Bell.
The Orange would go on a 5-0 run to make it 17-11 Big Red before senior forward Guy Ragland, Jr., hit a three by the top of the key, moving the score to 20-11 Cornell.
Syracuse would follow with a 7-0 run to bring their deficit to one-possession, down 20-18, with 5:14 left in the first half.
Freeman took his defensive rebound all the way down the floor and in the lane for a right-handed shot that tied the game at 20, which was immediately followed by another Freeman rebound and another score in the lane, this by junior guard J.J. Starling that gave the Orange their first lead of the game, 22-20, at the 4:30 mark.
After being down 17-6, Syracuse went on a 20-3 run to go ahead 26-20 with 3:29 left in the first half.
Once behind by as many as 12 (14-2), the Orange went into the locker room up 11 (39-28) at the break.
The Big Red would go on a 6-0 run to get within two, down 51-49, to the Orange with 12:31 to play.
Syracuse would respond with a 14-5 run to extend out to a double-digit advantage, 65-54.
Making both of his freebies on a one-and-one try with under four minutes to play, Freeman secured himself a 20+ point night, with 21.
With the Big Red down by down, 73-69, senior guard Lucas Taylor blocked senior guard Nazir Williams coming down the lane and true freshman guard Elijah Moore would get the defensive rebound, take the ball down the floor, and nail a three to move the Orange out to a 76-69 lead.
An offensive rebound and dunk by Freeman would give Syracuse a 78-69 advantage inside a minute to play.
Freeman would finish with a double-double, 23 points and 12 overall rebounds. He had 10 defensive rebounds alone.
Starling with end the night with 12 points.
For the Big Red, Ragland led with 17 points, followed by Williams and junior guard Cooper Noard with 16 apiece, and junior forward AK Okereke with 10.
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