ITHACA, N.Y. -- Up six points with under 20 seconds to play, Big Red sophomore David Onuorah blocked Tavon Blackman's drive into the lane. It was that kind of night for Cornell's defense in a 57-49 win over Brown on Friday night at Newman Arena.

Onuorah's career-best seventh block was the 11th of the night for the home team. Both marks rank third in a single game in school history. Even more than that, the intimidation factor played a huge role in limiting the Bears to 30 percent shooting in capturing its second Ivy win of the season, surpassing last season's total. The Big Red improved to 10-9 (2-1 Ivy) with the victory, its fourth in the team's last five games. The Bears slipped to 9-11 (0-3 Ivy) with the loss.

The 6-9 center added eight rebounds and two steals, but it was senior Galal Cancer's key late plays that pushed the home team over the top. Cancer ended the night with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals without a turnover, while backcourt mate Devin Cherry had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists with only one miscue. Overall, Cornell turned the ball over just five times in the victory.

Cornell held the Bears scoreless for the final 3:30 after Brown's Cedric Kuakumensah hit a free throw to give the visitors a 49-47 lead. They wouldn't score again.

Cancer hit two free throws to tie it at 49-49, then rebounded his own miss after a block by Onuorah on the other end and hit two shots from the charity stripe to go up two points with 78 seconds left. Brown turned the ball over as Cancer tipped away a pass into the backcourt, then retrieved it for a layup to extend Cornell's lead to 53-49 with under a minute to play. That was essentially the game, as the defense forced Brown into four misses the rest of the way, including Onuorah's final block.

Robert Hatter and Shonn Miller each had eight points as part of a balanced Big Red attack on offense, with Darryl Smith and Dave LaMore adding six apiece and Jordan Abdur-Ra'oof scoring five points. The Big Red hit just 1-of-14 3-point field goals in the win, but limited the Bears to 4-of-20 shooting of their own.

Brown got 14 points by Blackman and eight points and five boards from Steven Spieth. Rafael Maia notched a game-high nine rebounds to go along with six points. At the end of the night, Brown held a 40-36 edge on the backboards.

The Bears led by as many as seven points midway through the first half, hitting four of its first five shots and going up 13-6 on a Tyler Williams 3-pointer nearly eight minutes in. Cornell stuck around despite losing Shonn Miller to his second foul with 10:13 left, getting three consecutive baskets from Darryl Smith to get back within 21-18. Two straight baskets by Dave LaMore to end the half made it a 27-24 game at the half with Brown ahead on the scoreboard.

A 6-0 Big Red run early in the second half changed the momentum, though the game would swing back-and-forth the rest of the way. Onuorah rebounded a miss and put it back in for his only points of the game, followed by a Miller pull-up jumper from 16 feet to tie the game. Cornell took the lead moments later after Cancer rebounded an Onourah blocked shot and went coast-to-coast for a layup to five the Big Red the lead at 30-28 two minutes into the second half.

There were four ties and five lead changes the rest of the way with each team putting together short bursts. Brown's five-point lead with 13 minutes remaining was the only time either team would have more than a one-possession lead until Cancer's steal and layup put the Big Red up four with 54 seconds left. That deficit seemed almost insurmountable, and ultimately it was.

The Big Red will attempt to take a share of first place in the Ancient Eight when Yale visits Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m.