Dec. 29, 2009

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PHILADELPHIA - Rodney Green's 19 points led five Explorers starters in double figures, but it was Cornell's Ryan Wittman and his career-high 34 points that led the Big Red to victory at Tom Gola Arena on Tuesday afternoon, 78-75. The loss snapped the Explorers' six-game home winning streak which dated back to last season.

La Salle (7-5) trailed 70-64 with 2:33 remaining in regulation until two Green layups and a Jerrell Williams free throw cut the deficit to three, 72-69. After two Wittman free throws increased Cornell's lead to five with 19 seconds left, a three-pointer from Kimmani Barrett made it a one possession game, 74-72.

Barrett answered back with another three point basket but, with one second left, Cornell quickly inbounded the ball and ran down the sideline as time expired.

Green's team-high 19 points moves him past Hubie Marshall (1964-67) into 17th place on the all-time scoring list. Next up is Darnell Harris (2004-08) with 1,659 points. Green also contributed game-highs with seven assists and three steals to go with seven rebounds.

Barrett also climbed the scoring list on Tuesday after his 13 points pushed him past Bob Fields (1969-71) and George Paull (1964-67) into 44th place.

Williams led the team with eight boards to go with 14 points, Aaric Murray posted 12 points, four rebounds and four blocks and Yves Mekongo rounded out all Explorer double-digit scorers with 10 points while also grabbing seven boards.

For Cornell (10-2), Wittman became the school's all-time leading scorer (1,667) after his performance on Tuesday. Jeff Foote and Chris Wroblewski followed up Wittman with 11 points each.

The Explorers outrebounded Cornell 36-33 and also outscored the Big Red in the paint 38-26.

La Salle opens up the New Year with a road game at Binghamton on Saturday, January 2 at 2:00 p.m. ET.