NEW YORK, N.Y. — Cornell's second half defensive effort and a night of near-perfect execution on offense led the Big Red to its first-ever Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival title with a 71-66 win over St. John's on Monday evening. The win snapped a 40-year, 46-game losing streak against Big East foes and extended Cornell's own win streak to seven this season.

In an everyone contributed type of effort, it was senior Jon Jaques and tournament MVP Jeff Foote who made some of the biggest plays.Jaques, starting his third straight contest, posted his second career high during that span with 20 points. He hit 7-of-8 shots, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, including a backbreaking 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock with 31 seconds remaining and the visitors up by just two. Foote controlled the paint for the second straight night, posting a 19-point, 11-rebound, five-block effort. Both Chris Wroblewski and Ryan Wittman, who was also named to the all-tournament team, each chipped in 10. Senior Louis Dale had six points and five assists, breaking the school's career assist record in the process.

The Big Red shot 57 percent from the floor overall and an even better 61 percent from 3-point range, connecting on 11-of-18 from beyond the arc. Cornell made 64 percent of its shots in the final 20 minutes to overcome a 34-23 deficit on the backboards.

St. John's, whose only previous loss came at the hands of Duke, got 19 points off the bench from Dwight Hardy, while DJ Kennedy had 15 points and seven rebounds, Paris Horne had 12 and Malik Boothe notched 10. The Red Storm shot 42 percent from the floor overall, including just 37 percent after halftime.

The Red Storm, a 30-percent 3-point shooting team entering the game, hit 6-of-8 from deep to open the game and took a 26-20 lead, overcoming the Big Red's own hot shooting from beyond the arc (6-of-7). The lead, built on some aggressive defensive chops by the Johnnies, grew to 11 before Cornell was able to claw its way back in, getting back to within 36-31 at halftime when Jaques hit a trey with 44 seconds left, followed by Cornell defensive stop.

Cornell was able to cut into the deficit and took some momentum early in the second half, getting a four-point possession after Dale found Foote for a dunk and was fouled. The senior missed a free throw, but it was alertly tapped back by Wittman and ended moments later with a layup for Coury, Cornell's first points from its bench all night.

The Big Red turned what was an 11-point first half deficit into a 47-46 game after a great finish by Coury on a pass from Wire with just under 11 minutes remaining. Cornell's offense, which shot 50 percent in the first half, continued its hot shooting by getting looks inside in the half court offense, making seven of its first 12 shots (58 percent), while the defense drew two charges and picked up the intensity, allowing just eight shots in the first nine minutes. A Foote three-point play gave Cornell its first lead since 6-5 at the 10:42 mark, taking a 49-47 edge. A Wittman 3-pointer on a broken play on the next possession pushed Cornell's lead to five (52-47) a minute later. It would never trail the rest of the way.

St. John's forced a tie with a trey by Hardy, his second attempt of the possession, to knot the game at 60-60, but Foote answered. His bucket in the lane helped Cornell regain the edge, which quickly grew to seven with four straight free throws by Wroblewski. The Red Storm worked for a four-point play with under 20 seconds left when Boothe missed the second of two free throws, and the long rebound ended up in Hardy's hands. He drained his fifth 3-pointer of the day to make it a 69-66 Big Red lead with 15 ticks remaining. Cornell remained poised however, and after a Wittman free throw, Cornell rebounded a St. John's miss. Jaques hit a free throw with four seconds left to round out the scoring.

The Big Red will take a break for the holidays before returning to action on Tuesday, Dec. 29 when it faces La Salle in Philadelphia, Pa.

Cornell became the 16th Ivy League team to participate in the storied 57-year history of the Holiday Festival, played each year since 1952 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Ivy League Holiday Festival Winners

1967: BC, Columbia, La Salle, Louisville, Penn State, St. John’s, Syracuse, W. Virgnia.
Columbia def. W. Virginia, 98-71; Louisville, 74, 67; St. John’s, 60-55.
MVP: Jim McMillian, Columbia

1994: Colgate, Manhattan, Penn, St. John’s
Penn def. Colgate, 93-58; St. John’s, 79-73.
MVP: Jerome Allen, Penn

1997: Drexel, Nigara, Princeton, St. John’s
Princeton def. Drexel, 58-56; Niagara, 61-52.
MVP: Brian Earl, Princeton

2003: St. John’s, Manahattan, Holy Cross, Penn.
Penn def. St. John’s, 63-61; Manhattan, 49-47.
MVP: Jeff Schiffner, Penn.

2009: Cornell, Davidson, Hofstra, St. John's
Cornell def. Davidson, 91-88 (ot); St. John's, 71-66.
MVP: Jeff Foote, Cornell