JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Wil Bathurst scored 18 points and had a huge chase down block in the final minute of regulation as Cornell held on for a 65-62 victory at Saint Peter's on Monday night at the Yanitelli Center. The Big Red improved to 6-6 with the victory, while the Peacocks slipped to 4-7 on the year.

Bathurst scored 16 huge points in the first half, a half dominated by the Big Red's pressure defense. Cornell forced 12 first half turnovers and had nine steals and limited the home team to 38 percent shooting on the night. Despite the constant pressure, Saint Peter's erased a 13-point first half lead and nearly erased an eight-point deficit with 22 seconds remaining, but freshman Matt Morgan hit a pair of free throws and Cornell watched a desperation halfcourt heave fall short as time expired.

Morgan and classmate Troy Whiteside hit huge 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the second half to wipe away memories of a 3-of-22 start from beyond the arc and the Big Red hit 8-of-13 free throws in the final 62 seconds to close out the exciting win.

Bathurst, who missed last week's contest with Monmouth, hit on 7-of-13 field goals to finish two points off his career high and added five rebounds, two assists, a steal and the aforementioned block in 31 minutes. Morgan, who also missed the Monmouth game, had 17 points, six rebounds and a career-high four steals. Junior Robert Hatter netted 16 points and four rebounds to round out the three double figure scorers, while David Onuorah had five points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Saint Peter's got 22 points from Antwon Portley, but he was the team's lone double figure scorer. He had 19 points in the second half, more than half the Peacocks' 36 after the break.

For the second straight game, Cornell raced out to a 13-point lead early in the first half. After going up 23-10 against Monmouth in its last contest, the Big Red hopped to a 21-8 advantage while forcing 10 Peacock turnovers – eight coming on steals – in the first 12 minutes. Bathurst scored 13 straight points for the Big Red as part of a personal 13-2 run over Saint Peter's. The Peacocks got only one shot attempt during the three-minute span as the Big Red forced five turnovers during the stretch.

Saint Peter's chipped away at the lead, hitting three 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the half to close to within 29-26 at the break.

The Peacocks took their first lead since 2-0 just 1:38 into the second half on a Portley 3-pointer, but Hatter drove the lane to tie it up on the following possession as part of a 6-0 spurt. They led again at 39-38 when Portley followed up a miss with a basket, but that triggered a 7-0 Big Red run. A Cameron Jones 3-pointer gave the Peacocks their third lead of the second half, but another 7-0 Big Red sputter put the visitors ahead – this time for good. Whiteside closed the mini-run with a 3-pointer, and after Portley hit a pair of free throws, Morgan drained his only 3-pointer of the night after opening the contest with six straight misses.

There were plenty of nervous moments in the final two minutes for the Big Red – but Bathurst's chasedown block of a Elisha Boone layup attempt kept Saint Peter's at bay and Morgan's four free throws seemingly put the game out of reach. Up 63-55, Chazz Patterson nailed a trey. After a bad inbounds pass by the Big Red, Patterson hit Portley around a screen for a second 3-pointer in three seconds to get back to 63-61 with 14 ticks left. After trading two Big Red free throws for one to go up three, Cornell missed a pair of charity shots with three seconds left. Portley's desperation  heave to tie the game fell well short and the visitors escaped with the victory.

Notes To Know
• Coach Courtney's oldest son, Billy, won a 3-point shooting contest at the under-eight media timeout of the second half.
• With 11 steals, Cornell now has double figure steals in four contests this season and is averaging 10.4 steals per game in its last five contests.
• After beginning 3-for-22 from 3-point range to open the game, Cornell hit the final two.
• The Big Red's seven assists were a season-low.
• Cornell outscored the Peacocks 29-8 off turnovers and 41-23 off the bench.
• Freshman Matt Morgan's four steals were a career high.
• Junior Darryl Smith had a pair of blocked shots, his first career multi-block game..

Next Up
• The Big Red will open up the New Year when defending America East champion Albany visits Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m.
• Albany leads the all-time series 3-2, with the Big Red winning the last two contests after dropping the first three meetings.