LOWELL, Mass. — Cornell fell behind by as many as 15 points in the first half, made a high-energy comeback in the second and fell a last-second 3-pointer away from overtime as UMass Lowell held on for an 80-77 victory on Sunday afternoon. The River Hawks improved to 3-2, while the Big Red slipped to 3-4.

Big Red freshman Matt Morgan had 23 points and four assists, junior Robert Hatter had 14 points and five assists and rookie Troy Whiteside set a career-best with 10 points and six rebounds in the loss. As a team, seven different Cornell players combined hit a dozen 3-pointers, while the team's pressure defense forced 23 turnovers. Junior Darryl Smith had eight points and WIl Bathurst recorded seven.

Four different River Hawk players reached double figures, with Jahad Thomas leading the way with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Isaac White had 18 points and nine rebounds, Keith Hayes II had 13 points and Matt Harris was credited with 10. UMass Lowell had a dominant 46-27 edge on the backboards leading to a 14-2 edge in second chance points.

After a first half controlled by UMass Lowell, the Big Red made a run in the second half. COming out of the locker room down nine (43-34), the Big Red launched itself on a 12-2 spurt to take a momentary lead of 46-45 when freshman Stone Gettings hit a jumper from the short corner. Cornel lforced six turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half to set a much different tone than in the first.

UMass Lowell continued to lead much of the second half after they came right back and regained the lead on the next possession, but Cornell had one more run in it. The visitors trailed by 10 (59-49) with under 11 minutes remaining, but Cornell chipped away, eventually taking a 66-65 lead on a Morgan 3-pointer with six minutes to play. The River Hawks called timeout and drew a foun on the next possession, hitting both shots to regain a one-point edge. After a Big Red miss, Tyler Livingston tipped in a missed shot. Wil Bathurst tied the game with his only 3-pointer of the night, but Thomas scored six straight to give the home team a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Cornell made it a game late, as a pair of missed free throws and a long 3-pointer by Morgan set up a final Big Red chance. Hayes hit the second of two free throws to make it a three-point game with 4.2 seconds left, the Big Red inbounded the ball to Morgan and the freshman gave himself a shot to tie, but the ball bounced off the back iron and out.

The second half team wasn't the same one on the floor for the first 20 minutes, as Umass Lowell dominated the glass (22-10) and took advantage of every Cornell mistake, making the visitors play with White hitting 4-of-5 from 3-point range and the team knocking down 7-of-11 overall (64 percent). The second half was totally different, as Cornell limited the River Hawks to 41 percent shooting overall and made them commit 14 turnovers in the game's final 20 minutes.

Notes To Know
• It was freshman Matt Morgan's third career 20-point game and one off his career high of 24.
• Freshman Troy Whiteside had career highs of 10 points and six rebounds.
• Cornell hit 12 3-pointers, the fourth time this season the Big Red has reached double figures.
• The Big Red forced 23 turnovers, the most by an opponent since Columbia turned it over 23 times last season in Ithaca.
• Cornell was credited with just one blocked shot, with 5-11 guard JoJo Fallas earning credit for it.
• It was the only blocked shot in the game.
• The visitors played without five injured players: senior Braxston Bunce, junior Dez Fleming, sophomore Pat Smith and freshmen Joel Davis and Donovan Wright.

Next Up
• Cornell returns home for a two-game homestand beginning on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. when Siena visits Newman Arena.
• The Big Red will also host defending Patriot League champion Lafayette on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.