ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell had two shots in the final seconds to tie or take the lead, but Columbia was able to hold on for a 48-45 victory in the Ivy League opener on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Big Red slipped to 8-9 (0-1 Ivy), while the Lions moved to 9-6 (1-0).

The Big Red got 17 points, three rebounds, three steals, two assists and a tremendous defensive effort from sophomore Robert Hatter, but the Lions held the home team to 25 percent shooting on the day overall and 24 percent from beyond the arc to sneak home with the victory. Hatter held Maodo Lo, the Ivy League's leading scorer, scoreless for the first time in 53 games. In all, Cornell forced 23 Columbia turnovers, including two keys ones in the final 30 seconds that allowed the Big Red to complete a rally from down 12 in the second half to a one-point game.

Shonn Miller, who entered the contest tied with Lo as the conference's top scorer, was held to eight points with four rebounds and four steals and Devin Cherry notched nine points, seven rebounds and six assists. The Big Red had nine steals that helped the team score 21 points off turnovers.

Kyle Castlin led Columbia with 12 points and both Jeff Coby and Steve Frankoski had 10 apiece. Isaac Cohen notched a game-high 10 rebounds and Coby added nine as the Lions held a 36-29 edge on the backboards.

Columbia scored the game's first six points and didn't get on the board until Darryl Smith hit a free throw 5:15 into the game. The Lions kept hanging around, getting a JoJo Fallas 3-pointer to cut a six-point deficit in half, followed by a Pat Smith trey with nine minutes remaining in the half to get within 12-9.

The Lions put some separation with a 7-0 run to extend it to 19-9 after Frankoski hit a jumper with just under six minutes remaining, but Cornell had one last run in it. Hatter hit a 3-pointer, then drew a foul and made all three free throws to cut the Columbia deficit to 19-15. A late 8-2 run by the visitors, including a layup by Isaac Cohen just before the buzzer, sent the Lions into the break leading 27-17.

Cornell saw Columbia extend its lead to as many as 12 on three occasions before roaring back. Miller, who had been scoreless on the day, hit a jumper, then nailed a 3-pointer in the span of 45 seconds to narrow a 39-27 deficit to 39-32. Two minutes later Cherry hit a jumper off a feed from Miller and then Miller got out on the break for a vicious dunk to get Cornell within 39-36 with eight minutes remaining.

Columbia calmly grew the lead back to eight after a Frankoski 3-pointer. After a slow four minutes of missed opportunities for the Big Red, Cornell made a furious rally in the final 63 seconds. Down five points, Cherry hit a free throw. Cory Osetkowski answered on the other end with a step-through layup, but Hatter again drew a foul on a shot from beyond the arc. He hit all three charity shots to make it 46-43 Columbia with 20 seconds later.

The Big Red got a missed free throw, but couldn't corral the rebound. Without having to foul again, Hatter deflected pass for a steal and went coast-to-coast to make it a 46-45 Columbia edge with 18 seconds left.

Again, Cornell's defense stiffened and forced a Columbia turnover on the inbounds with 16 seconds remaining. Miller used his dribble to get into the lane and find Cancer, who rimmed out the short jumper. Columbia rebounded and made two free throws, giving the Big Red one last chance to tie the game with six seconds. Devin Cherry took the inbounds pass and beat his defender down the court, but his 3-point attempt fell short as the horn sounded.

The two teams will square off next Saturday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.