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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Imoh Silas closed out a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double with a putback with seven seconds remaining to lift Siena to a 71-70 victory over Cornell on Friday evening in a foul-filled contest at Newman Arena. The Saints improved to 2-3 with its second straight win in the final 10 seconds, while the Big Red slipped to 0-6.

Silas was a monster on the backboards, with seven of his 14 coming on the offensive backboards. He added an assist, two steals and a block in the victory.

Sophomore Nolan Cressler was sensational with a career-high 25 points, including 11-of-19 from the field. Senior Dwight Tarwater had his second double-double of the year with 12 points, a career-best 13 rebounds and three assists and Devin Cherry had 17 points and four assists before fouling out with four minutes to play. The big Red shot 51 percent from the floor and turned the ball over just seven times, but was just 12-of-24 from the free-throw line.

Cressler hit a long 3-pointer at the halftime to cut a nine-point Siena lead to 43-37 at the break and then used the momentum into the second half. The Big Red defense was strong after the break, limiting Siena to 35 percent shooting from the floor after it made 56 percent in the first half. Siena also went 0-for-6 from 3-point range after the break after making 5-of-10 in the first half.

In a game that featured 53 fouls, both of Cornell's starting guards fouled out in the final 10 minutes and three other players had four apiece. The second half alone saw 31 fouls called, including 10 in the first four minutes after halftime.

Cherry's fifth foul came at an inopportune time, as he went out with less than four minutes to play and Cornell leading by 10. The Big Red was called for a bench technical foul and the Saints hit all four free throws. Cornell, meanwhile, missed 3-of-4 in the decisive stretch. The Big Red got a late look by Tarwater from beyond the arc for the win as time expired, but the shot went long and Siena rebounded for the victory.

The Big Red exploded out of the gates in the second half with a 19-3 run over the first 8:06 behind eight points by Cherry and six by Cressler and the advantage was still 10 when Cressler hit consecutive shots, the last one making it 67-57 with 4:46 left. The teams traded misses before Evan Hymes, who scored 15 for the Saints, drew the game-changing foul on Cherry that turned the momentum.

Besides the 17 from Silas and the 15 from Hynes, Rob Poole scored 19 - including 15 in the first half - while Marquis Wright notched 12. Siena turned the ball over just eight times and missed 15 free throws themselves, but did just enoough to win their third matchup in four tries all-time against the Big Red.

For Cressler, it was his 10th consecutive double figure scoring game, while Tarwater's 13 rebounds surpassed the 11 he had against Loyola (MD) earlier this year.

The Big Red will attempt to pick up its first win of the season when it plays host to Radford on Monday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena.